Demon Nature
by Shardetector
Summary: He spoke low and gently, although his voice was gruff with his demon still so close to the surface, "You saved me wench, now I'll repay the favor." With that, his muscles bunched in his legs as he sprung up and out of the well, a red blur in the night as he made his way through the forest to his destination. His precious cargo held safely to his chest, as he raced to save her.
1. Chapter 1

*For this first chapter I ask that my readers bear with me, I promise it IS different. I'm just setting the mood. Also I want to give a special thank you to my friend who helped inspire me to write again! It has been a very long time. You know who you are!*

**UPDATED**

* * *

Demon Nature

Chapter One

Screams echoed all around and flames were starting to engulf structures from where at some point during the commotion a fire had started. But the terrified cries and roaring heat from the blazes didn't register with him. All he could focus on was the jewel; dangling from the necklace held tightly in his grip preventing him from physically touching it. A menacing look seized his features and he couldn't stop the vengeful smile that spread across his face.

"So there!"

After all the bull shit he had been through, all because of this jewel, he finally had it. He knew he should have stuck with his original plan from the start. Amber eyes narrowed, dodging yet another weapon thrown his way. Quick and sure on his feet he glanced down at the pink gem again. His smile widened and his voice deepened.

"A way for me to become full demon at last!"

" _ **InuYasha**_!"

Hot white pain seared through his chest as his forward momentum came to an abrupt halt; his body magically pinned to the tree behind him with a hard thud from the arrow running him through. However, his golden eyes never left the jewel; mesmerized as it fell forward out of his grasp. His face now a mixture of shock and pain as he watched the pink orb falling so slowly to the ground…

He was so close.

The thick metallic odor of blood hit his nose, causing his gaze to venture past his prize. His vision was filled with the sight of a familiar woman standing in the tree line, still poised from firing her arrow. The sight of her both enraged and concerned him. Enraged by her betrayal, by how foolish he now knew he had been for having trusted her. Concerned from the affection he once felt for her. However, the black hard stare coming from her icy brown eyes rid him of any lingering concern and triggered his own eyes to flash scarlet.

"Kikyo!"

His mind raced, trying to put all the pieces together. Furious from being betrayed, deceived, rejected, the longer he looked into that emotionless gaze the more hatred consumed him. His demon half was screaming, clawing more and more at the surface demanding to be released.

"How could you?!"

Abruptly, his eyes softened for a moment as the spell started to take effect, essentially muzzling his demon and allowing something else to take control of his heart. The human part of him now pleaded, begging to understand.

"I thought…"

The priestess's dull eyes never wavered their cold hate filled stare, causing his youkai energy to surge and his eyes to flare crimson once more. As his mind slowly sank into the heavy darkness of a forced sleep, his demon roared with anger at the cage he had been placed in. His eyes began to flutter close, pulsing between scarlet and gold, his demon seething with rage.

* * *

Kagome could not have imagined her 17th birthday taking such a turn. As cold hands forcibly turned her face the last thing she saw before a mysterious blue light engulfed her was her brother crumbled on the floor of the well house, looking frail and terrified. She couldn't contain the gasp that left her as she now took in the sight of the monstrous creature before her eyes, shaken and frightened at its…her?…appearance.

The only way she could describe the creature was to say it appeared as if someone had hacked the top half of a naked woman off below the navel, a very well-endowed naked woman at that, and replaced her lower half with the nasty body of a centipede. It was a demon straight from hell and the visual alone was sickening, but her skin absolutely crawled when the thing spoke. Its voice was undeniably female but sounded almost ghost like.

"Already my flesh returns to me! You have it then, don't you?"

Kagome examined the creature's face anxiously, the words on her lips fading out to a whisper after seeing the inhuman mouth on the centipede woman. Especially after catching sight of its large menacing fangs. Even she knew she sounded terrified and insignificant.

"Wha…t?"

" _Give it to me_!"

The monster's voice deepened, its raspy hiss of a voice now resembling a snake, and its numerous hands on her small frame gripped tighter. Kagome felt her stomach drop and she squeezed her eyes shut as she began to struggle against the hands restraining her with a nervous bravery emerging to the surface.

"I don't have anything!"

Feeling herself being pulled closer to the monster, her eyes flew open to find the creature's mouth getting closer and opening wider. Saliva stretched from its fangs as it hissed darkly once more.

" _ **Give it to me**_!"

When the things slimy tongue ran up the side of her face, giving her an epidemic case of the heebie jeebie's, Kagome kicked into survival mode. She was able to pry her right arm free from its clutches and then promptly rammed her palm against its face in an attempt to create distance. The only thought she possessed was getting this creature to release her as she screamed out with all she had and as forcefully as she could, demanding that it stop!

Her eyes widened in fascination as she then felt and saw a powerful force shoot from her hand, the energy shimmering a light blue. Instantly the vile thing released her from its grasp, crying out in pain. Looking past the hypnotic radiance of her hand she watched as the thing vanished from her sight, its disembodied voice still echoing all around her.

"I must have the Sacred Jewel!"

Stormy eyes wide and whirling with confusion, Kagome whispered to herself as she gradually floated down to the ground.

"Sacred… Jewel...?"

Once she was safely on her hands and knees, she panted heavily trying to regain her breath and calm her racing heart. Her eyes jerked around searching, trying to make sense of everything that had occurred.

"Maybe I bumped my head or…"

Trying to reason with herself proved to be futile as her gaze landed on the severed arm of the centipede monster. Her heart leapt back up into her throat and her eyes widened comically.

"Or maybe not!"

Standing up gingerly to get her bearings, Kagome called up from the well for her brother. Urging him to go retrieve their grandfather so she could get out of this creepy old well! Her eyes kept drifting back towards the severed arm keeping tabs on it. She was astonished that it wasn't gushing blood, but she noticed it did appear that the flesh had been scorched.

After receiving no response from her brother; and not being able to tolerate the thought of being so close to even part of the creature that attacked her, she decided he must have ran off from fright and began the tedious task of climbing the walls of the well by the thick vines growing up its' side. She soon noticed the closer she ascended to the top how much brighter it seemed to get, too bright to be inside the well-house. As if on que, a small yellow butterfly glided down to lit softy on her shoulder before taking flight once more.

Growing more confused Kagome rushed to quickly reach the lip of the well, and the view she found herself facing caused her eyes to widen and her breathe to catch. The scene before her was stunningly beautiful; rich greenery was everywhere from the trees to the grass and a pure blue sky illuminated everything. Chirping birds and other animals scurrying about in the woods could be heard all around. It was like a fairytale.

' _I could be wrong, but Toto… I don't think we're in Tokyo anymore.'_

Cautiously she started to walk around inspecting her surroundings and her humor started to fade as she saw no sign of her family or the shrine. She started calling out for her family praying for a miracle, to find someone, anyone to save her from this weird dream.

"It's like the family shrine isn't even…"

Gasping as she caught sight of the Sacred Tree looming over all the rest, it quickly became a beacon of hope in her eyes. An excited smile spread across her face as she sprinted off in the direction of the tree she knew so well.

' _The Sacred Tree! That means I'm practically home!'_

Pushing her way past some shrubbery, Kagome gazed up optimistically to the familiar aged tree only to have her smile falter. There, pinned to the large and noble tree…was a boy… with an arrow piercing his heart. Yet, he appeared only to be sleeping, with his features relaxed and so at peace. Instantly he enchanted her, and for a moment she just stood there taking him in.

Hypnotized, she watched as his long silver white hair caught on the small breeze that passed through, delicately dancing with the wind. Her sight then followed the shadows the trees cast on his bright red outfit; following them down to the roots that threated to engulf him and back up to his serene face.

Feeling a strange pull her feet moved on their own accord, something about him calling her closer. Childish curiosity or something more, she wasn't sure. Kagome just felt as if his soul was crying out to her. In no time she had started to climb up the thick roots that wrapped around him. Not wishing to startle him in case he was just merely sleeping, she softly called out to him.

"Hey there… whacha doing?"

She paused as she was now close enough to the boy to make out his strange ears. Two white furry triangles sat atop his head, curved slightly in with the insides a light pink flesh color. They reminded her of something, not quite like Buyo's but they almost looked like…

' _Like dog ears… I think I want to, touch 'em!'_

Slowly her hands inched forward until both gently took hold of a small triangle. Like soft velvet under her fingers, Kagome smiled in childlike delight as she gave them each a few tweaks. This simple yet strange act comforting her some, helping her to forget about the nightmare she had just been through.

Her happiness was short lived, however, when arrows rapidly came flying at her from the forest. Deep voices shortly followed, bellowing at her demanding her not to move. Instinctively, Kagome flung herself over the sleeping boy, tucking herself up tightly to him as if he could somehow protect her.

Once the barrage of arrows stopped, she turned her head just slightly enough to see three men cautiously approaching her. They were muttering between themselves and while she couldn't make out everything being said, what she caught being repeated several times was 'she looks like Kikyo-sama' and 'dark priestess'.

In no time the very bizarrely dressed men had all advanced on her and had her surrounded. Commanding that she get down, two of the three began aggressively reaching up and grabbing at her wherever they could reach when she refused to obey their demands. Batting and kicking at their hands, Kagome vaguely noted that while the two brutes were acting like savages, the slimmer of the three men merely stood back observing worrisomely.

Momentarily distracted, it wasn't long before one of them managed to get a firm grip on her leg. Next thing she knew, they were forcefully dragging her from atop the root she was standing on and onto the ground. Anger filled and powered her as she kicked, elbowed, and jerked away at them. She had no problem fighting back with a bunch of human men, she had already seen and apparently fought off much worse.

Unfortunately, she was outnumbered and they soon had her flat on her stomach tying her hands tightly behind her back. A hot panic blanketed over her, causing sweat to bead up and coat her entire body. What were these dirty men planning on doing to her? She couldn't let this happen! Kagome resisted even harder, dread starting to consume her, only to receive scrapes and scratches for her efforts.

The man who had yet to assist in her capture spoke up then, his voice sounding kind as he sympathetically requested that the other two not be so violent with her. After his request she heard the deep stern voice of the man who seemed to be the one in charge mutter something about her being a dark priestess again. The man assisting the leader was quick to back up his statement by pointing out the odd way she was dressed. The voice of the kind man still persisted trying to reason with the others, saying they should at least take her to the village and let Lady Kaede determine what the peculiar girl was.

Seeming to have convinced the two thugs that his plan was the correct course of action, her body was tersely lifted. She was forced to her feet and barely had time to regain her balance before being shoved forward, a stern command to "walk" barked from the obvious leader of the trio. With her initial fear now gone and her panic simmering down, she no longer feared she was about to be ganged raped, Kagome stiffened her entire body out of spite and glared heatedly straight forward at nothing in particular. She absolutely refused to be pushed around with orders being snapped at her!

With another hard thrust to her shoulder, the same bossy man who had previously ordered her to walk spoke again, his voice lowering an optical clearly not fond of being defied by what he thought was a dark miko.

"I said walk."

Kagome turned her head just enough to catch sight of the ox of a man, her jaw set and stare hard. The man humpf'ed before her vision went black, pain searing across her face as she fell back to the ground. Unable to catch herself, more pain exploded from her chin as she landed squarely on it. Eyes squeezed shut, willing herself not to cry and appear any weaker in front of the men, a small whine escaped her. She dimly made out the kind-voiced man speaking up in her defense over the ringing in her ears before the large ox silenced him with a threat.

"You don't wanna walk? Fine, then I'll drag your ass to the village."

Addressing her again the large man didn't shout his words in anger, he just stated them as fact. It was as if he saw nothing wrong with the manner in which he treated her, she was after all a dark miko. When the nasty man then leaned down and seized both her ankles, Kagome kicked and fought against him as he tried to bound her ankles together as well. In no time of course, he succeeded.

The man's arms were as big as one of her thighs, she knew going in she stood no chance against his strength. Though at least she got some satisfaction out of knowing a few of her kicks had landed. As the horrible man stood up he glared irately down at her before snatching her by the back of her shirt collar. It was then that the shaken voice of the sympathetic man tried to attempt a small protest once more.

"What if she isn't a dark priestess?"

Even Kagome recognized that the timid man was grasping at straws to find a way to prevent the other two from abusing her so extensively. Regrettably the giant boulder wasn't as dull as he looked; he evidently had at least a few sharp edges and saw the smaller man's scare tactic for what it was. So, she was left trying to block out the world as she was dragged. Her high school uniform getting torn and covered in filth as her ass and legs were sliced up even more by the many sticks and stones in the forest. All she could do was keep her eyes squeezed shut and pray she would wake up from this nightmare soon.

It wasn't long before the temperature felt cooler and she could hear the faint commotion of a large group of people, along with some thunder, in the distance. The kind man, walking next to her and slightly behind the beast who was dragging her, commented about the village being close. Having glanced down at her as he said such, she got the impression the man was trying to comfort her; mercifully trying to let her know that there was an end to her suffering in sight. The other man, boss man's lackey, agreed. Although he seemed more fearful than concerned for her.

"It is best we hurry, we don't want to be caught in the rain nor out after dark so close to InuYasha's Forest."

No sooner had the lackey spoke, a thundering sound shook the earth causing the leader to release his grip on her; resulting in her falling at an odd angle on her back. Raising up the best she could, Kagome opened her eyes to find her earlier nightmare had returned. The monstrous centipede woman was towering over them from the forest's edge.

Unable to move thanks to the tightly knotted bounds around her wrists and ankles, all she could do was stare. Strangely though, she was at ease. Instead of panicking right off, she was getting a twisted thrill at how terrified the 'tough' men were of the monster. Funny how all that toughness disappeared when it wasn't a petite woman they were facing.

' _Serves them right.'_

" _Demon_!"

All three men screamed in fright and shakily drew their weapons. They sent their arrows flying at the demon woman but none struck her as she spun her entire body like a cyclone, easily deflecting them. The eerie screech she let out made Kagome's blood run cold.

"The _**jewel**_! The Sacred Jewel! I must have it!"

The demon advanced towards them, crawling much faster than one would think a centipede could be able to, causing the men to scatter. The bosses lackey took off in the direction they had been walking, with the bellowing voice of their leader screaming at him to run to the village and get more men.

Kagome, incapable of getting up in order to run, helplessly watched in horror as the demon woman charged right for her. Unable to avert her eyes, she watched wide-eyed as the centipede grew closer, the distance between her and the monster getting far too short. Fixated on her impending doom, she was startled when calloused hands from behind swiftly lifted her up. She vaguely processed a slight pain as the rope tying her hands together was hastily cut free, nicking her wrist in the process.

Immediately, she recognized the kindhearted man who had tried to protest her mistreatment as he came into her line of sight stretching forward to slice the ropes bounding her ankles. As soon as the restraints were disposed of the man turned his panicked face to hers shouting at her to run.

Quickly gathering herself Kagome and the man were barely on their feet before the demon centipede slammed into the earth near where they stood, throwing them all to the side and back to the ground. Over all the chaos, she could hear the despicable man who had abused her bellowing at the generous man who had freed her. His brash fuming voice causing the centipede woman to turn her attention to them.

"Why would you release the dark priestess?! Don't you realize this is all her doing?!"

Kagome seized her opportunity. Legs springing forward, her muscles screamed as she ran as hard and as fast as she could. Absentmindedly she ran into the forest, not daring to look back from fear of losing her speed. Her eyes closed wincing as her foot caught on a root causing her footing to faltered. Panting for breath as she regained her balance and continued to run, she began to pray.

Wanting so much for this all to be over, to be rescued from this nightmare and finally be saved, she dug down deep into herself. Lifting her face toward the heavens as she ran, she cried out in desperation from the depths of her soul.

"Whoever you are! _**Please help me**_!"

* * *

His scenes came to life all at once. It wasn't a slow climb from sleep, as everything gradually came into focus. Nor his body being sluggish as it regained function.

No, he was jolted awake. Abruptly. Violently. Body screaming with energy, senses alive and ready. His demons rage fueling him; his claws flexed as his nose picked up a familiar metallic scent. His eyes flashed red.

"I smell it, the blood of the woman who killed me."

With a fanged smile, he reached for the arrow pinning him in place. His voice deep and guttural from his anger and from having been unused for so long.

"And it's coming this way."

As his clawed hand extended to grip the arrow it began to glow a bright blue, singeing the flesh of his palm. Grunting he jerked his hand away and glared at the arrow. Annoyed at still being caged, his rage grew.

His ears perked up at the sound of a loud crash close by. Soon after, a girl emerged from the darkness of the forest as she was thrown forward. Turning his eyes and attention to the her, InuYasha smiled darkly.

"Hello… Kikyo."

Wheezing for breath on her hands and knees, Kagome was startled to hear a voice. A very deep voice that despite the situation almost instantly put her at ease. Looking up in the direction the voice had come from, she was surprised to see the once peacefully sleeping boy now staring at her. Initially she felt a spark of joy at knowing he was indeed alive; however, as her eyes fixed with his, sadness stabbed her heart from seeing such hate in his beautiful molten gold stare.

She gasped softly as she thought she saw the whites of his eyes flash scarlet for a moment.

Captivated by his eyes, she once again found herself being enchanted by this man. To the point that she almost missed when he started to taunt her. Asking her in that husky voice of his, why she taking so long to kill it? Kill it? It took a moment for her to comprehend what he was saying, having been distracted by the sound of his voice and not completely paying attention to his words.

When it finally donned on her just what the beautiful man was referring to, she was left baffled and stunned. Kill it?! She was barely succeeding at running from it! Let alone killing it! Perplexed as to how exactly he believed she should kill the large monster that had been after her all day, Kagome nearly missed him spitting out his next words with venom in his tone.

"Just do her like you did me, Kikyo."

Like she did him? Who the hell is this Kikyo? And why was this handsome man spitting that name at her with such revulsion?

Before she could speak, the man's eyes left hers to stare behind her into the darkness. Stating simply, 'she's here', as if to warn Kagome and give her a fair chance at defending herself. However, she didn't have time to act before the demon appeared from the darkness advancing towards her once more.

Rushing to gather her feet under herself to run, Kagome slipped forward on the wet grass, her muscles giving out with all the exertion and not enough recovery time. She squeezed her eyes shut as she waited for the pain that was sure to come, but only heard a sickening thud instead. The kind of sound made by a weapon piercing flesh. Jerking her head up she could see a large group of village men pulling at the demon with ropes tied to spears embedded in its flesh.

"So, I was saved...?"

Her voice was small and uncertain, but she had whispered more to herself than for anyone else's benefit. Unexpectedly, a disgusted grunt was her answer as the golden eyed man scowled down at her, his eyes definitely flashing red. His voice was taut and dark as he spoke; his words somehow stinging her.

"You're pathetic Kikyo."

Growing tired of being accused of being someone she wasn't and things she wasn't today, Kagome let out an annoyed growl of a sound as she pushed herself to her feet. Squaring her shoulders, stormy-blues locked onto enflamed-gold. Forgetting about the demonic centipede woman and the village men, she moved purposely towards the man pinned to the tree with her fist clenched. Making her way to him, she never broke their eye contact even as she climbed the large root growing around him.

"That does it! Kikyo! Kikyo! I'm not her! Whoever her is!"

A fire had ignited in Kagome as she adamantly defended herself from these accusations. Now confronting the silver haired man face to face, the man only snarled at her words and leaned towards her arguing that she had to be Kikyo. Saying there was no way she could smell so much like her otherwise.

Smell?! What about her smell?! She'd been dragged across a forest for crying out loud! Incensed that he had the audacity to comment about her smell, she was just about to lay into the man when the sight of his nose twitching caught her attention. Curiously she watched as his eyes became clouded in confusion, the crimson in them slowly starting to bleed away. He strained to lean even closer towards her taking two deep purposeful sniffs.

"You're not her."

He stated this simply, but his face showed how truly astonished he was to be mistaken. Thinking the man was finally done arguing with her, a sigh of relief left her as she agitatedly yelled at him.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you! My name is Kagome! Ka-Go-Me!"

Her relief was cut short though, when the silver haired man shifted his eyes from her and sighed softly. At first it seemed he was agreeing with her as he started off with saying, "You're right" and the smallest of smiles almost reached Kagome's lips, glad that they could come to an understanding. Until what he said next reached her ears.

"Kikyo was much cuter."

InuYasha smirked inwardly as he watched the girls face fall, but he quickly noted that the poor thing looked as if she'd been through hell and back. Her strange clothes were torn, her chin was split, there was the beginning stages of a nasty bruise on the right side of her face, and she had various cuts and nicks all over her body. He couldn't reasonably explain why he had felt the need to tease her and he was a little ashamed for doing so now that he had looked her over.

Childishly though it may have been, he simply hadn't wanted her feeling like she had won or outsmarted him. But it was getting hard to remember why that mattered with her so close to him. Her intoxicating scent consuming his every breathe, he found his rage was starting to dissipate and that intrigued him.

Fed up after the day she had had and in need of a good outlet, Kagome was about to unleash it all on the man for insulting her, but her seething words never came as she suddenly felt the familiar sensation of cold hands clutching her from behind. Having momentarily forgotten about the demon in pursuit of her and mistakenly believing that the village men were capable of dealing with it, she had let her guard down.

Her hands now shot out grasping onto the first thing she could find in a desperate attempt to keep herself out of the clutches of the monstrous centipede. Crying out for the centipede to let go of her, she then noticed just what exactly she had grabbed hold of as the man's voice cried out after hers.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! You let go!"

Panicking, Kagome released her grip on one of his silver forelocks and turned towards the demon. Swinging her hand out to push it away like she did back in the well she yelled out in terror as she felt a familiar sensation consume her.

" _ **Stop it**_!"

For the second time that day, she watched as a fierce blue energy escaped her hand to dismember even more of the centipede's arms.

With the arms of the centipede no longer holding her up, she fell to the ground and landed with a hard thud. Trying to wrap her mind around what had happened, she reacted too slowly as the demon screeched at her and charged.

"Give me the Sacred Jewel!"

InuYasha watched stunned as the young woman emitted a spiritual blast at the demon, a powerful blast too. Although the raven-haired youth seemed to be in shock that it had happened. He watched her intently as she landed harshly on the ground. Eyes, ears, and nose all on alert searching for signs that said she was injured, one ear twitched as he overheard some of the men cowering and discussing if they should just run.

' _Useless vermin, leave a helpless girl out here alone?'_

InuYasha realized she wasn't completely defenseless, but she was obviously inexperienced and extremely frightened. The smell of her fear was coming off her in waves now tainting her lovely scent from before. While she may have possessed spiritual capabilities, he got the impression she didn't know how to use them. She was out of her element and it didn't take a genius to figure out that she was definitely out of place here. One look at her outfit told him that much.

Just as he was fixing to shout at the girl to tell her to snap out of whatever trance she was in, the demon's words stopped him dead.

' _The Jewel?'_

With his brief hesitation he watched as the girl was slung violently into the air, her eyes wide in horror as her body could do nothing to defend itself. The sound of her flesh ripping clogged his ears and he winced as the smell of the girl's blood grew stronger in the area.

To her credit though she didn't cry out, instead Kagome just stared awestruck by the small pink orb that was jerked from inside her body.

' _It came from inside me…'_

A little delirious from blood loss she didn't even notice when she had landed, her body taking yet another hard hit. Her gaze never left the pink gem; its soft glow keeping her attention. Numbly she sat up with a hand holding her side. She thought she heard the beautiful man demanding her to give the jewel to him but her brain was rattled. Was this the jewel? The Sacred Jewel…

Before she had a chance to come to her senses, Kagome was forcefully thrust into the man and the tree by the large body of the centipede. A sharp pain burst up her from her side and she clenched her fists onto the mans red robes, screaming out in agony.

"It's crushing me!"

Panic was starting to take over her mind once more. Over her jumbled thoughts she heard the man cursing at the demon, but she couldn't concentrate on his words. All she could focus on was the pain ricocheting through her body, before the man's calm voice called her back to herself.

"Hey… can you pull out this arrow?"

InuYasha stared straight ahead glaring hard at the demon bitch as she taunted the both of them. He could sense the girls dismay and knew she was probably getting close to her limit. Funny how he had hated the sight of her when she had first fallen at his feet, only to now be concerned over her safety.

When thinking she was that damn priestess, he would have been rejoicing in the pain she felt, wanting her to suffer for all the pain she had caused him. Except this wasn't the bitch who had caused him so much pain. This young woman was innocent and terrified. Something in him changed and the hatred that once consumed him started morphing. He knew if he didn't do something this girl was probably going to die.

With that thought in mind he barked out at her once more to gain her attention. He knew he had it after hearing her small murmur of "what?" as she slowly came back to reality.

"Can you pull out this arrow or not!?"

His voice was probably rougher than he meant for it to be, but he was slightly on edge. It was surprising that his demon was kept under control given his current state. He finally heard the woman hesitantly give a small, "I don't know…" before the demon centipede laughed wickedly and started taunting them again.

"I had heard some half-demon spawn was after the jewel."

Spitting out the word 'half-demon' as if it was vile on her tongue, she raised herself above him so she could literally look down on him, her face appearing from between her breast. InuYasha's hackles rose. This lowly demon bitch demeans him and then has the audacity to stare down at him as if he were beneath her?! A low growl made its way from his chest as he fired back at her.

"Half's all I need to kick your scaly ass."

Pressed into the man Kagome was clinging to his robes trying to hold on to something solid as she tried to ground herself. Her mind was racing and she was staring at the arrow sticking out from his chest debating on if she should listen to him and remove it, when she heard the demons comment.

' _Half-demon? What is he?'_

She peered up his body to his face; his features were strong with pride, his eyes hard challenging the demon, and then she noticed his ears again. What was he?

Catching the end of what he spat back at the demon, a small ray of hope built up in her. She quickly sucked air into her lungs in order to speak loudly enough to catch his attention.

"Hey! You talk big, but can you back it up?!"

His amber eyes glanced down at her for a moment, the only sign of acknowledgment he gave before he cast them back onto the demon centipede tracking its every move. Kagome's intentions quickly became clear to the village men. Her and InuYasha could hear the immediate protest they gave over the demon's taunts, begging her not to remove the arrow sealing the demon InuYasha.

The centipede youkai only laughed at the display as she lowered herself closer to the jewel, ignoring the half-demon's barks as she swallowed it whole. Almost instantly her power grew and her flesh was ripped off replaced with a horrid red and black skin like armor. Her garbled laugh shook her body, her voice a ghoulish sound. InuYasha yelled out to the men as they now cowered in fear whimpering.

"At least with me you have a chance! Whereas that thing is going to eat you!"

Turning his head to look down to the girl so intimately pressed into him, he lowered his voice just slightly and spoke to her sincerely.

"And you…are you ready to die yet?"

Kagome's eyes widened as she watched the transformation of the demon woman, but after hearing InuYasha's words she closed them to block out her fear and the pleas of the village men as they cried out to her.

' _I don't know what I should do… but…'_

Taking a large gulp of air into her lungs readying herself for the coming pain, Kagome stretched herself upward and reached for the arrow. The pain went running throughout her body, from the centipede continuing to crush her, to her torn open side. She screamed out as she pulled back on the arrow with all her might.

"I choose to… _ **live**_!"

InuYasha watched in amazement as the arrow began to shine brightly, almost as if it had an inner flame igniting within it. With all of her might, the girl pulled back on the arrow but it didn't budge. He didn't become discouraged though, because from the pulsing sensation of her power he knew she sure as hell was ridding him of the damn thing!

He could feel the energy she was emitting from inside his chest where the arrow pierced him through. An odd phenomenon; as it did not burn him but sent tingles down his spine and set his soul ablaze. With freedom so close, his demon impatiently awaited his release.

Kagome put all she had into getting rid of that arrow. Her eyes shut tight, she paid no mind to the world around her. The village men screaming at her to stop her black magic, the horrid screeching of the demon centipede while it discarded its own flesh as it grew in power, the pain that consumed her entire body, the sound of the rolling thunder as it grew closer…She ignored it all.

She called on all the energy she could harvest. Focusing instead on the warmth of the man she was so intimately pressed into, for she felt he was the only one she could trust. If this InuYasha could put an end to all this, then she would free this man, and he would be her savior, all she had to do was remove an arrow. She wanted to go home, she wanted the nightmare to disappear, she wanted to _live_!

Time had seemed to have slowed down and a small magical explosion set it racing forward once more. All eyes looked toward the flash of spiritual light, all seeking out the tiny arrow which held such a large enchantment. As the light from the blast faded everyone could clearly see is it was gone, vanished, disappeared as if it were never there.

InuYasha's demon soared, his wild soul unleashed. Ducking his head, his body began to shake, unable to contain the dark laughter ripping up out of him. His mind clouded with vengeance. They would all pay; he couldn't wait to tear his claws into their flesh! Every last one of them would suffer as he unleashed decades of built up rage on their miserable souls!

Feeling as the demon bitch moved her insect body in a quick attempt to crush him, he smiled sensing the desperation in the force in which she used to capture him. His mind was running rapid with ways to torture the creepy crawly bitch when a small whimper caught his attention. Though he couldn't see her with the centipedes' body wrapped all around him, he was reminded of the young woman.

He felt her being crushed into him at what was for him a small inconvenient pressure, but as he heard the air squeezed from her lungs he knew it was much worse on her small delicate human body. His anger morphed into a carnal protective rage.

His course of action changed. The storm inside him came bursting out with a demonic roar and the flex of his iron claws. InuYasha tore free from the demon whore's flesh ripping it into pieces. Blood, arrows, and cold wet drops began to rain from the sky as the looming storm finally found them. But knowing they couldn't pierce his demonic skin he paid no mind to the arrows. Focusing instead on sinking his claws into the centipede woman's flesh, he began tearing piece by piece away searching for the jewel he knew was hidden somewhere inside.

Blood splattered up onto his face, but his smile never wavered as he hunted. Viciously he tore the demon apart not allowing its tissue the time it needed to regenerate. His bloodlust had started to take over, but a small cry of pain broke through to him. Ears twitching in the direction of the sound, stealing his focus away, InuYasha spun around to see the girl Kagome slumped against a tree. With an arrow sticking up out of her leg. The scent of her blood hit his nose once again, causing his eyes to bleed red.

His demon swore he would kill every last one of the humans for harming that girl. He didn't understand why he felt the need to protect her like he did, all he knew was that her scent had calmed him and she had set him free. He owed her that much. Hearing the comments from one man in particular, enraged his demon that much more, especially since he could smell that piece of filth all over the woman.

Having hesitated just long enough for the jewel possessed demons flesh to begin to regrow and giving the bitch time to retaliate, he snarled as he felt the youkai attack. With some distance now between himself and the wench; her blood thick in his nose and being so close to the jewel his demon was finally granted its wish as it took over with deafening roar.

Kagome had watched the scene unfolding in front of her eyes in amazement from her spot on the forest floor. Sitting up in the mud from the place where she had landed when her silver haired savior had broken them both free of the demon's death grip, her eyes followed his every move. She knew she should be frightened by his ferocity, by the way in which he tore apart that vile creatures' body. At this moment he truly appeared to be the demon the village men claimed him to be. Yet, she only found herself praying for him to succeed.

As she was finally able to catch her breath some, a hard task to do when the frigid rain kept pounding down on her stealing it right back, she began to shakily rise to her feet. She knew being out in the open with a battle raging on mere feet in front of her was dangerous. There were arrows flying everywhere, not to mention blood and flesh as her demon knight tore away at that awful centipede, and she really didn't want to add to her list of injuries.

Thinking it was best to seek shelter from the fight, she tucked her right arm around her gapping side and used her left to push against a tree holding herself steady. Cautiously she began to turn herself around and move away from the battle on trembling legs. She was concentrating hard on not slipping and falling back into the wet earth, when a sharp hot pain spread out from her inner right thigh. Crying out as she slumped against the tree, she tried her best to keep her injured leg straight. Hoping to not cause more damage by moving the arrow that was currently jutting out around too much.

An inhuman, animal like roar caused her to jerk and had her whipping her head back around to the battle. Her gaze locked with the blood red stare of a true demon and her eyes widened as she took in his features. His mouth was opened wide in a snarl with his fangs extended. The whites of his eyes were now crimson and his once warm golden irises were replaced with an electric blue. Dark purple markings ran jaggedly across his cheek bones.

Her stomach dropped and for a split second, Kagome feared him. She saw his nostrils flare as if he was scenting something before shouts from the village men caught both of their attention. The demon man seemed more enraged at the sound of the men's voices, his attacks growing in speed. While she could barely make out their words over all the fighting taking place, between both the two demons and the two men; she was able to identify the men by catching a glimpse of them through the pouring rain. She quickly pieced together that the man who shot her was nonother than the brute who had abused her before, still determined that she was a dark miko.

Fearing that the large thug would retrieve his bow from the same man who had defended her earlier, she focused her attention on her leg. She couldn't walk with an arrow poking out of her leg, least of all run, and she wanted nothing more than to run home. Resolve set, she grit her teeth as she broke the longest part of the arrow in half on the back side of her thigh, grunting as she did so through clenched jaws. She stilled herself as she prepared for what came next.

Gripping the remaining half of the arrow on the front side of her thigh, right below the sharp point, Kagome's breath left her in a hiss as she yanked the broken weapon from her tender flesh.

Without delay, she ripped the bottom part of her already torn shirt off and quickly tied it tightly around her bleeding thigh. Not stopping for fear of letting the pain set in, she pushed herself to her feet once more. Her body screamed at her as she pushed forward, falling from tree to tree unable to keep her balance. She vaguely realized the sounds of battle were further away than before as her feet kept trudging forward, wanting as much distance from that nightmare as possible.

Night had truly set in, as the darkness and the pouring rain made it even harder for her to find her way to her destination. Home. She had to find her way home.

Staggering, she leaned against a tree as hope filled her and gave her new strength. For there in the open field, barely able to be made out in the dark and rain, was the well. Her ticket home. Because surely if she came here that way, it was the way home.

Kagome put all her remaining strength into pushing herself off the tree and running the best she could to that well. Who would have ever thought she would be so happy to see that creepy thing? Running into the side of the old wood, her hands out to catch herself, she didn't hesitate as she slung her legs over the wet moldy rim.

In the not too far distance she heard screams crying out, both human and non, and she paused briefly thinking of her savior. She hoped he was alright, and she truly wished she could thank him. As an image of his demonic face entered her mind, she shuttered. Still she whispered a small thank you into the night, hoping somehow, he knew how grateful she was.

More than ready to leave this place, Kagome pushed herself from the lip of the well and rejoiced in the weightlessness that she felt as she fell towards the bottom. Expecting any moment to see the soft blue light engulf her once more, disappointment hit her hard as she landed at the bottom with a wet thunk.

Laid over on her side with her face in the mud, her ankle now being added to her list of injuries, she began to weep as she slowly realized the magic of the well hadn't taken her home. All her strength faded away as hopelessness consumed her.

' _Some birthday this had turned out to be.'_

She couldn't help as a pitiful laugh broke through the sobs for a moment. And as exhaustion took over her body and pulled her down into darkness, her last thought was full of wishful thinking.

' _Maybe I just bumped my head…'_

* * *

InuYasha stood snarling over the corpses of the centipede bitch and one particular human. He had only allowed the others to live simply because he didn't smell any strong trace of the girl on them. Now his scarlet eyes stared transfixed to the glowing pink jewel he held between his bloody claws. His fanged smile grew as he felt a pulse of power leaving the gem and entering into him.

' _At last… it's mine.'_

Abruptly his ears swiveled around at the faint sound of soft words reaching him, gently coaxing him out of his battle won euphoria. He tucked the jewel safely into the inner pocket of his white kosode as his keen ears heard the soft 'thank you' of the woman child that had set him free. Glancing around he saw her muddy tracks disappearing into the trees where she had wondered off during the battle. Eyes squinting as he stared out into the darkness in the direction her foot prints lead, an image of her bloody and beaten body shot across his minds' eye.

That wench would get herself killed roaming the demon infested forest at night. He supposed he understood her wishing to put distance between herself and the fighting, but she had unknowingly put herself at even more risk by separating herself from him. How could he protect the weak little wench if she wouldn't stay put?

Lightning fast on his feet, he followed the smell of her blood to an old rundown well with little effort. He was curious at how his demon both receded and flared to life the closer he got to the woman child. It made him wondered if it was her spiritual nature that calmed his beast? Taming him so that his mind may think more clearly, yet his demon stayed just below the surface allowing his strength and enhanced senses to stay.

Red eyes peered over and down into the dark well spotting the fainted wench crumbled at the bottom. Fleetingly he wondered why she would jump into a dry well. Growling softy and observing as she didn't so much as flinch, he effortlessly leapt down into the dried-up thing. Feeling his demon receding even more as he came closer to her, he considered that perhaps her powers weren't just working on him but the jewel as well?

Landing softly beside her, he leaned down over her assessing her state of being with red encasing now golden irises.

InuYasha knew that the wench had taken a lot of damage and had lost a lot of blood. It appeared her body had finally reached its limit. He was oddly proud at how hard and long she had fought though. From the start he could tell she had spunk, fondly remembering the fire she had inside as she had stood up to him. She had definitely lasted a lot longer than he expected her too. Apparently, she had a lot more fire than he thought and he found he was eager to see it burn more.

Gently he scooped the battered woman into his arms, pausing to wipe the mud from her cheek with his sleeve. As the rain slowed, he watched as droplets washed away blood and dirt from her bruised face. Despite his earlier remark she was truly beautiful and he couldn't stop his eyes from roaming her features. She was a vision with her wet raven hair clinging to her delicate heart shaped face, her lips slightly parted. But the vision shattered when he noticed the bluish-purple color starting to take residence on her lips.

In one fluid motion InuYasha stood and he spoke low and gently to the woman even though his voice was gruff with his demon still so close to the surface.

"You saved me wench, now I'll repay the favor."

With that, his muscles bunched in his legs as he sprung up and out of the well, a red blur in the night as he made his way through the forest to his destination. His precious cargo held safely to his chest, as he raced to save her with his demonic speed.


	2. Chapter 2

**UPDATED**

Demon Nature

Chapter Two

InuYasha slowed his pace to give his senses time to search his surroundings, careful not to jar the injured woman he carried. Golden-red eyes spotting his destination up on the mountain side, he paused long enough to be doubly sure he sensed no demons in the area. The last thing he needed was to waste his time off-ing some vermin when he had a much more important situation in need of his attention.

Staring up the mountain side at a small tree that appeared to be growing out of the rock, the muscles in his legs tensed as he leaped up and forward. Coming down through the wet leaves of the tree, he landed softy below it on a muddy patch of grass right in front of the entrance to a decent sized caved. The small flat area where he stood and the cave's entrance were both camouflaged by the way the rock of the mountain was laid out. Having the added bonus of the tree for coverage made it difficult for anyone to notice the cave. Which made it the perfect little safe haven and precisely why he had chosen the location to be his den years ago.

Stepping inside, his nose was filled with an overpowering stale moldy stench. He scanned the layers of dust on the scarce possessions he had left behind as he walked further inside leaving a wet trail following behind him. Just how long had he been imprisoned in his forced sleep? Honestly it surprised him that his dwelling hadn't been discovered and taken by some lowly demon.

Crouching down next to the remnants of a fire pit, InuYasha gently placed his battered cargo upon the rock floor. His eyes focused on her chest, but not because of how the soaked thin white material hid nothing from his view. He truly paid no mind to how the piece of clothing hung to two very distinct features that made her a woman. His attention instead focused on her shallow breathing.

As he rose his torso up from her, her body immediately started shivering from the loss of his body heat. He snapped into action. Guided by his keen sight, he located as much dry wood as he could scavenge and in no time had a fire blazing. Taking care that the wench wasn't close enough to get burned, but close enough for warmth, he set about his next task.

His eyes narrowed as he watched her body continue to shake. Skin that was supposed to be healthy pink fought with the color blue and her wet clothes caused a puddle of cold rain water to gather underneath her.

He briefly acknowledged that what he was about to do would certainly insure the woman's wrath upon him… if she had been awake.

Wasting no time, he pulled the already torn and wet material taunt with his left hand. The claws of his right flexed as he used the claw of his index finger to cut straight up her shirt. He pulled her right arm free of the cold fabric and pushed the flap he had created by slicing her shirt into off her side. As he went to do the same with her left, her whimper stilled him. Having tugged on the flap on her left side, his eyes narrowed noticing the material had stuck to her wound.

InuYasha knew there was no helping what had to be done. Slowly, trying to cause her the least amount of pain as possible, he pulled the fabric free of her blood covered flesh. His ears lowered as she whimpered more and her face scrunched up against the pain even in her unconscious state. His demon was irate for causing her harm and was only soothed at his determination to make her pain disappear.

He quickly repeated the process in ridding her of her bottom layer of clothing. The bottom piece of cloth made him question if she had wanted to gain the advances of men. It covered nothing!

Amber-red eyes took in her form; all that was left covering her body were two oddly shaped small white pieces of clothing. One covered her breast, though he could still see her tightened pink nipples through the wet material. The other covered her other intimate area, the lack of hair on her there causing him to cock an eyebrow. Deciding that the rest of her clothing weren't covering any life-threatening injuries, he left them to save her modesty.

Clothing out of the way, InuYasha leaned down close to her once again bleeding side. Taking a deep inhale, he ignored the thick smell of her blood coating the inside of his nose trying to concentrate on finding a different scent. His eyes narrowed as he picked up the sour stench of infection.

Being a half-demon, he had never had the need for any kind of remedy, so the wench was out of luck in that human aspect. However, him being a half-demon worked in her favor even better, because although he had no medicine or herbs to assist her InuYasha had a much more effective healing trick. He leaned his face down even closer to the woman's flesh and his hot pink tongue came out to gently lick up her wound.

Feeling her move against him, he placed a clawed hand firmly yet gentle on her stomach to keep her from moving away. He hoped she would sleep through this. Not out of any fear of being caught touching her so personally, but to spare her conscious mind of the pain and discomfort he was sure her body was feeling. Plus, he would hate to have to fight the wench to keep her still while he attended to her wounds. It was a necessary evil, but he doubted she'd be very reasonable in her condition.

As he continued to slowly lick her torn skin, the taste of her blood sang to him. Its red nectar calling his demon more forward, his senses humming and setting his skin on fire. In no time he had to reposition a certain private area of his own, _it_ having grown uncomfortable being bunched up in his crouched position.

InuYasha snapped out of his stupor realizing just where his thoughts were leading. The woman's blood truly called to him, awakening his primal demon nature. He hastened his task, lapping at her quicker trying to ignore the effect her blood held on him. Stop the bleeding. Stop the bleeding and move on to the next serious wound. End this as fast as he could.

Leaning back just enough to eye her side, he sighed in relief upon seeing her wound closed. An inflamed bright pink layer of skin had formed thanks to his healing saliva. Left as it was with only the healing capabilities her human body possessed it would leave scar, but InuYasha didn't care at the moment about the possibilities of scarring. His only concern was to stop the bleeding. In that he had succeeded and he didn't need to waste time with appearances while she still had another serious wound on her body.

With that thought in mind he sat back on his haunches and his eyes moved down her body to her right leg. Mentally he groaned at seeing the torn piece of red cloth tied around her thigh. The once white fabric stained with her blood concerned him. He only hoped that the material hadn't stuck to her as the cloth of her shirt had done to her torn side.

Scooting down her body so that he had better access to her thigh, InuYasha stretched himself out between her legs and carefully lifted her right leg over his shoulder. Not bothering with the ties, he sliced her shirt made bandage in half. The relief he felt from watching the red scrap of cloth fall to the ground, having not stuck to her tender wound, was short. As his eyes took in the two holes in her thigh, an entrance and an exit, he growled low. The image of her leaned against a tree with an arrow sticking out of her leg flashed through his mind, making him want to kill the bastard who'd caused it all over again.

He grit his teeth as he inspected the bloody holes on her thigh. A puncture wound would have been bad enough, but he hadn't realized that the arrow had went clean through. It turned his stomach seeing her delicate skin torn so violently and the sickening shade of purple and green it had already developed didn't help any. And InuYasha by no means had a weak stomach. In comparison to some of the shit he'd seen in his long life this was on the mild side. He was just disgusted by the fact that a male had done this to a female and hated the pain this was going to cause her. This wound would be more difficult to heal giving how it ran through her thigh completely.

Unable to bare the sight of her wounded flesh any longer his demon roared at him to heal her. Taking charge, the beast ordered his body into action and complying InuYasha decided he should start with the entrance wound on the back of her thigh. Trying to keep her as comfortable as possible, his head and body ended up at odd angles with the girl's leg draped over his shoulder at the knee.

When his tongue made contact with her blood once more the air whooshed out of him and his demon raged at what he knew he must do. InuYasha found himself fighting the beast back for an entirely different reason as his need to protect this woman intensified. Readying himself for what he was about to do, he held her leg firmly so she couldn't jerk away.

Gathering up as much saliva as he could on his tongue, he slowly pushed the wet appendage down into the puncture wound as far as he could.

The high whine and hiss that left the girl nearly broke his heart. Her leg immediately tried to jerk back, her body reflexively trying to distance itself from whatever was causing her pain. InuYasha held her leg still as he continued; retracting his tongue only to repeat the process once more. He left his tongue embedded in her skin for a few moments each time in hopes that her flesh would absorb what healing powers he offered.

His ears laid flat back on his head as her whimpering cries of protest increased. He knew this had to be done, but that knowledge didn't stop his demon from tearing at him on inside. It demanded to be released, to hunt down and kill whatever was causing his wench such pain. Yet he knew it was his own doing.

Finally, InuYasha felt as the depth of the puncture was starting to shorten. Her inner flesh starting to mend and heal from the inside out. He was so glad that that damned arrow had only caught the fatty part of her leg and not pierced through her muscle. A muscle would have been even more painful and would have taken much longer to heal.

After running his tongue along the finally mended area of the entrance wound, he gently took her leg from over his shoulder to lay it flat on the ground and sat back satisfied that at least the bottom was healed up. Twisting his head back and forth a time or two to rid his neck of the cricks he had developed, he stared at the exit hole on the front of her thigh.

His demon was literately on edge. Its energy was dancing around under his skin itching to sink his claws into something. He realized that his demon had claimed this woman and he didn't know how much more he could take before the beast took control. The urge to protect her was consuming him.

Despite his clear mind from being so close to the woman, it was the demons line of thinking that filled his thoughts. Although not demonic in their nature, he still couldn't help the shiver he felt at entertaining the thoughts. He wanted, no _needed_ to mark this woman in some way. He needed her scent to be so mixed with his own that even he couldn't tell them apart. A big 'Fuck Off' to any demon who caught whiff of her. An invisible shield to protect her even if he was away.

And he truly did not wish to fight against his demon's commands as his wants and its' were one and the same.

InuYasha closed his mostly scarlet eyes and took a deep breath trying to calm himself. Unfortunately, that just filled his senses with the wench's enticing scent.

' _Last one'_

He reasoned with himself trying to keep himself grounded. Reminding himself this was the last of her serious injuries. He promised himself if he could keep it together long enough to finish healing her, that he would seek out something to unleash his pent-up energy on.

After all, the wench would need something to sustain her…

A sharp fang poked out from his lips as he smiled tightly at the idea of spilling blood. The thrill of the hunt was always a good distraction. His smile left him, however, when he opened his eyes only to have ragged torn flesh mocking him. He promptly set to work on this final task; repeating the same process he had used on the back of her thigh. With every swipe of his tongue, he had to force himself to focus on his promised hunt.

Her hisses of pain caused his ears to lay flat once again; what would he kill? Her blood was a rush on his taste buds; how would he kill it? He tightened his grip on her leg once more as she unconsciously tried to pull it back again; would it scream as he killed it?

InuYasha was focusing so hard on trying not to focus on the wench, that he almost missed the slight sound of a different inhale coming from her. His keen ears missed nothing though as both furry white appendages kicked forward. Steadily, with his tongue still buried deep inside her thigh and his mouth caped over her wound, he looked up to her face. Only to have terrified smoky-greys lock onto his crimson-ambers.

Kagome's face was scrunched up in pain as her eyes slowly lowered to find his mouth covering the spot she knew was injured. Although she couldn't see it, she felt as his tongue started to slowly pull out of her leg. A sickening sensation that caused her body to tremble violently.

She had instantly recognized the beautiful man, but why he was doing such a thing to her confused the hell out of her. Her mind was already rattled from not knowing where she was and her body was in extreme distress. Weakly, she began to try to fight to move away from her savior.

InuYasha's steel grip never wavered. It was as he had feared, the woman waking and panicking at what was being done to her. He had known it was too good to be true that she would sleep through the whole process. He looked away from her pained face as he continued to sink his saliva coated tongue down into her leg despite her cries. It pained him to know she was in such anguish and his stomach sank as her cries turned to broken pleas.

Kagome couldn't understand why her savior had turned on her. Why he was causing her so much pain? Every time he sank his tongue back into her wound she cried out desperately. Her panic filled mind prevented her from realizing that the depth in which he went in lessened each time.

Frantically searching for an escape, she firmly planted her forearms on the ground and her back arched as she attempted to pull her lower half from him. Needing more leverage, she bent her uninjured left leg at the knee and pushed determinedly with her foot at the ground. However, it was all in vain as she couldn't even move an inch held in his iron grip. Hysteria started to consume her and there was no stopping herself as she began begging.

" _Please!_ "

At that moment InuYasha wished he could cut his own ears off. Her pleas caused his heart to break a little piece at a time. It was made all the worse because he knew he was causing it; her pain, her cries, the sour stench of her fear. He glanced up in hopes of making her understand through his stare; to portray to her that there was no malice in his actions. That he was only doing what he had to in order to save her.

Instead his eyes widened as they took in the position of her body. The wench's back was arched in such a way that it pushed her breast forward. Her nipples pushed against the white fabric that still covered them, tight from the mixture of cold and excitement running through her.

Even though he realized she wasn't in such a state out of pleasure, InuYasha couldn't stop the deep whispered curse that left him on an exhale.

" _ **Fuck**_..."

His body was straining and he had to concentrate hard on not stabbing her with his claws as he was forced to tighten his grip to keep her in place. Tearing his eyes away from her body he squeezed them shut and continued his daunting task. With her cries still ringing out, he wanted to cry right along with her, but for an entirely different reason. InuYasha was reaching his limit and his resolve was slowly weakening.

A deep low growl started to fill the area. Desperate to soothe the woman and finish healing her, he called on his demon in search for anything that could defuse the situation and calm them both. Apparently, his demon deemed the 'mate call' appropriate. Although he didn't give a shit as he heard her cries start to lessen.

Kagome was coaxed from her hysteria by a soft comforting purr. The sound pulled her back to herself, wrapping her entire being in warmth, and her cries were soon replaced by small hiccups. Docilely she continued to watch InuYasha lap at her thigh. The rhythmic movement of his tongue starting to soothe her. Vaguely it entered her mind that he was the source of the purr and that he was once again saving her.

Tucking her arms into her chest for both modesty and warmth, she hid the few small grimaces that reached her mouth behind her clenched fist. Lulled by the comforting sound her hero was emitting it wasn't long before her eyes fluttered shut and darkness consumed her senses.

InuYasha heaved a heavy sigh of relief as he gave her now healed thigh a long slow final lick. Sitting back, his demonic eyes tenderly took in her sleeping figure; glad that she had finally fallen back asleep.

Despite being mostly demon at the moment his own body felt heavy to him. He was drained from the many battles that had just taken place, both internal and external. Yet he welcomed the feeling; hoping that his demon would be appeased for the time being after having used the mate call. However, as he focused in on the wenches slightly parted lips, he groaned feeling the beast rise up to scratch at the surface again.

Glaring hard at the ground in annoyance, it was then he noticed the puddle of cold rain water around the woman. Seeping out from her tattered clothes, it continued to cause her small form to shiver.

Tugging his red suikan and off-white kosode out from his matching red hakama, InuYasha let the shirts hang loose from his shoulders as he bent to scoop the woman up. Clinging her tightly to his chest he stood to take her to the pile of furs in the corner of the cave. Having once served him as a bed, he grunted in disgust seeing how many of the furs needed to be replaced. For now, it would do. He simply needed a soft dry spot to let the wench sleep it off.

Kneeling, he sat her lower half on his leg and laid her upper half against his raised knee to keep her off the dirty furs. Before completely removing his suikan, he swiftly slipped the pink orb hidden inside its inner pocket out and into the pocket of his hakama. While he normally didn't like the idea of using the pocket in his hakama, the one in his suikan being a much safer place to store things, he wasn't about to leave the wench alone with the powerful jewel.

After all he just went through to save her, he wasn't just going to gift wrap her for some demon to be called to her by the jewels power.

Now completely removing his suikan, he wrapped it tenderly around her half naked body while still making sure it was snug enough to keep her warm. Once he was content that it would offer her both some warmth and protection while he was gone he turned his attention to the bedding. Eyeing the dirty furs, he removed his kosode and bent over the raven-haired beauty to spread it out for her to lay on. His body didn't even react to the change in temperature from exposing his chest and back to the night air.

Satisfied with the small bed he had created for her, he laid the girl down on his kosode. He made sure to take care in keeping his suikan tucked in around her to try to seal her away from the cold. Gazing longingly at her now peaceful face, he had to fight the urge to tuck himself around her petite form. His demon pointing out that he would do a much better job at keeping her warm.

Begrudgingly, InuYasha rose to his feet clad only in his hakama. Glancing at the fire he noted that the first thing he needed to do was gather wood. A small gurgle from the woman's stomach caused a dark fanged smile to stretch across his face. He couldn't forget about gathering prey. His demon wouldn't let him forget that promise and he had earned a little release.

His ears perked at the sound of the rain starting up again and he chuckled darkly to himself glad to have more of a challenge. Turning, he walked towards the entrance of the cave. His eyes glowing a brighter crimson with every step he took away from the sleeping woman. He relished in the sensation as the jewel's power pulsed, beginning to unlock the door to his monster.

Gazing at his wench one last time before he disappeared, InuYasha watched her chest rise and fall with the deep breathes of her healing slumber. Satisfied that she would sleep until he returned, he turned his gaze out into the dark forest.

His demon soared as he leaped far out from the cave and into the rain. In no time he was far enough from the woman that her powers held no pull on him. Blue and crimson eyes lit up the night as his demon took complete control. Intent on fulfilling his self-made promise, he had more than dinner on his mind. He needed to rid his corner of the forest of vermin and reclaim his territory anyway. His dark smile widened at the thought.

* * *

Kagome groaned as her mind made the slow climb from the deep sleep she had been in. Her body felt so heavy and ached all over, however she hazily noticed that she wasn't in severe pain like she was before. Her senses were slow at coming alive, but she felt a calm wash over her hearing the pitter patter of the rain as it continued to fall. Her stomach started to grumble at her as the smell of cooked meat finally reached her.

The sudden sound of the fire crackling and wood clanging together startled her into opening her eyes and raising up. She was somewhat alarmed to find herself in a small cave instead of a dirty well. Eyes still fuzzy from sleep, she squinted against the light of the fire assaulting her pupils. Recognizing her protectors figure as he stood slightly bent over tending to the fire set her at peace once more. His scarlet-gold gaze casually glanced her way and held her eyes and Kagome was so lost in his stare that she failed to notice as he started her way.

"You need to eat."

It wasn't until his smooth voice broke her trance that she realized how close he had come. He was crouched down right next to her, smack dab in her personal space. Instead of feeling uncomfortable or intimidated though, his nearness only helped to ease her further. When his words finally registered they caused her stomach to growl in earnest. Giving a slight nod in agreeance, she began to sluggishly push herself up to be vertical.

Her efforts halted, however, when she felt the warmth of her "cover" leave her causing her to glance down to reveal her bra cladded breast. Swiftly pulling the cover back up to her neck in her seated position, she gave out a high-pitched squeak as words rapidly came bursting out of her.

"Where are my clothes?!"

Amusement was apparent on InuYasha's features as he took in her comical expression. He watched as the girls' wide stormy eyes searched hastily for her said garments only for them to return to his stare once more silently questioning him. He lifted an eyebrow at her and jerked his head in the direction of the pile of shredded wet cloth. The young woman's gaze gradually followed the direction he had indicated only for her mouth to fall open slightly at the sight. InuYasha smirked.

Whipping her head back around to the smirking demon, the anger that was starting to fill Kagome whooshed right back out as her breath left her. Her eyes having finally taken in his state of undress. A blend of emotions consumed her at the sight of him. He wasn't bulky with muscle but lean like he was built for speed. And his light golden-tan skin highlighted every flex of muscle perfectly.

She felt a heat pool at her most private of areas as butterflies took flight in her stomach. Pulling the red cover, which she now realized to be his suikan, closer to her the brief wave of arousal stopped cold. Remembering her own state of undress her thoughts began to run wild with assumptions.

InuYasha felt a sense of male-pride as the wench was left breathless taking him in. The carnal thoughts he had refused to allow his demon to entertain from earlier came rushing back to life. He groaned pleased as the scent of her desire filled him and his dick immediately started to harden proving he was more than happy to comply with her body's wishes.

However, as quickly as her desire had come it was gone even quicker. He was puzzled momentarily as he sensed her unease rising. Noticing how firmly she held his suikan to herself, some clarity broke through.

Here she was defenseless, not knowing where she was, and half naked. With an equally half naked demon man in very close proximity. He could see where her mind was taking her, could even understand how it got there, but it still pissed him off.

"If I had wanted to do that, we'd already be well into by now."

His tone was hard, despite the words being spoken softly and Kagome jerked at the sound of his voice breaking the silence that had fallen over them. Her eyes caught the almost hurt look in the amber-reds glaring at her, as if she had out right slammed his honor.

Slowly she began to recall the nights' events. That terrifying centipede monster hunting her down. The savage village men causing her harm; one who was truly horrid. She had been rescued from it all by the man in front of her.

Guilt filled her causing her to avert her gaze from his angry stare. Seeking forgiveness, she whispered a soft apology for having had such unpleasant thoughts about her hero and for jumping to conclusions.

As her eyes refused to meet his, InuYasha's ears perked at the lovely sound of her voice. Her sincere apology filled him with warmth and his body instantly relaxed. He supposed he was being too hard on the wench. Given the day she had had he couldn't blame her for being suspicious of others' intentions.

Abruptly standing, he made his way to the cooked rabbit he had prepared for her. Gathering it along with several livers he had saved for her from his own meal, he made his way back to the furs and plopped down on his ass next to her. Patiently waiting for her to face him again, he finally caught her eyes as she tentatively looked back up to him. InuYasha then promptly held out the meats on a thin flat rock as a peace offering to her.

"It's fine, but you really do need to eat."

Touched by his concern, Kagome smiled softly. Carefully taking the rock/plate from him, her smiled fell as she saw exactly what she was supposed to eat. The rabbit meat she could handle, because while she had never tried it she was also a firm believer in tasting new things before writing them off. Unfortunately, there just happen to be one thing in front of her that she had in fact written off… Why all the liver?!

Trying to be as polite as possible, she didn't want to insult him after all the trouble he had obviously went through, she softy spoke his name for the first time.

"Thank you InuYasha but… you can keep the liver for yourself. I don't really like it all that much."

InuYasha's heart skipped when he heard his name leave her lips, loving the way it sounded when spoken by this woman. It was like a soft sweet melody coming from her and there was no trace of prejudice, disgust, or shame hidden anywhere in it. Fleetingly it occurred to him that this was the first time since before his mother had passed that his name had been used like that. Like he actually meant something to someone.

That train of thought quickly came to a halt when she tried to get him to take back the most nutritious part of her meal. His protective instincts had already been overbearing and they only intensified as his demon reared its ugly metaphorical head. Shaking his own head, he plucked one of the small organs up off the rock and held it between two claws. He saw relief wash over his wench for a moment, he guessed from thinking he was doing as she had asked, but as he proceeded to hold the meat up to her lips her relief swiftly vanished.

"You need these, you've lost a lot of blood today and these are filled with iron."

Kagome's faced morphed into a look of revulsion. Remembering the many bleeding wounds that she had collected over the day she knew he was right. But she hated liver! She couldn't stand the metallic taste of it, it reminded her too much of blood.

InuYasha let out an amused chuckle at her expression, but he left no room for argument as he gave a gentle demand.

"C'mon open. You gotta eat it, ain't no way around it."

Groaning, Kagome scowled at him for a moment. She hated the look he was giving her, quirking his eyebrow at her as if he were reprimanding a small child. With a defeated huff she complied and opened her mouth. As soon as he placed the organ in she began to shudder and her skin physically crawled as she began to chew. She tried not to gag as the taste of blood and the texture of the meat registered.

InuYasha's amusement only grew as he watched her eating the rabbit liver. Her face clearly showed her distaste for the thing. Watching as she swallowed the first one he had given her, his hands immediately held up a second and soon after a third; not giving her time to protest as he stuck the meat in her mouth. After he had given her the last of them he sat back and watched as she hurriedly chewed. His demon was now content knowing that her body would be better inept at replacing the blood she had lost.

As soon as Kagome swallowed the last piece she gagged. Immediately she started to tear into the cooked rabbits' meat to try and rid her taste buds of the awful flavor. In between bites she yelled out at the amused demon.

"Gods! Did you even cook them?! They were horrid!"

InuYasha gave a low chuckle, as he answered sweetly.

"Of course not, for what you need them for they're better _raw_."

He smirked even wider when her face paled from hearing his words. With that she set about scowling at him as she stuffed even more rabbit into her mouth. Shaking his head at her antics, InuYasha rose to go back to the fire once again. This time to feed it more wood.

Kagome continued to glare at the sneaky demon as he fed the fire. Irritated that he had deliberately not given her a chance to protest the meat more and question its odd texture until it was too late. She sighed as she watched his retreating form heading to the mouth of the cave. Everything he had done for her so far had all been to help her, so she guessed he had done it with good intentions.

Growing curious, she stopped eating as InuYasha left the cave and disappeared into the darkness only to return a moment later. She couldn't help but to giggle as he dropped on all fours and shook his body dry. Yet again putting her in mind of a dog. Her eyes followed him as he strode over to her and she had to blink quickly to refocus her sight as he held out a small cylinder object.

"Here."

InuYasha sat back down next to her as he reached the small bamboo container full of fresh rain water out. Seeing her confusion as she tried to decipher what the object he was handing her was, he decided to help her out. And of course, he couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease her some.

"I figured you would be thirsty, not to mention wish to get that _horrid_ taste out of your mouth."

Kagome cut him a look for poking fun at her over that sore subject, but nevertheless accepted his peace offer. A smile once again made its way to her features and she was truly touched at his thoughtfulness. She took the container and drank her fill.

"Thank you!"

As she reached the bamboo water bottle back to him, her eyes jerked to his hand as his claws lightly touched her fingers in exchanging the container. She stared hard at the sharp talons, realizing how truly deadly they were. If he had wanted, he could kill her at any time. Instead he used those deadly weapons to protect her, to provide for her.

Gaze rising from his claws to his ears Kagome giggled inwardly as one twitched; thinking how not all of him was deadly, but that some parts were down right adorable. Still she continued to take his demonic features in and her eyes traveled down to lock onto his crimson-gold stare. Lost in thought, Kagome tried hard to remember when she had first saw him, because she was positive that his eyes hadn't look like that. In fact, she distinctively recalled being shocked when they had flashed red for a moment.

' _Come to think of it…his eyes completely changed before.'_

Remembering how his entire face had changed when she had been shot with an arrow in the small clearing next to the Sacred Tree, Kagome's eyes widened as her mind brought forth the monstrous vision of him.

His pupils had been blue then, surrounded by the blood red his eyes now still possessed. Her gaze fell to his high cheek bones as she remembered the dark purple jagged marks that had stretched across them. Yet now they were nowhere in sight.

InuYasha watched with interest as Kagome's eyes fell first on his claws, then to a place above his own stare, he assumed his canine ears. He twitched one out of annoyance at her heavy gaze. And his eyes held her stare as her steel-blues shifted down to take in his gaze. He noticed her eyes widened slightly as her stare shifted down to his cheeks.

Afraid of where her thoughts would take her, he broke the silence with a firm but questioning call.

"Oi! Wench…"

Kagome's stare floated down to his mouth as he called to her in an attempt to redirect her attention. He succeeded in way, though she supposed the glint of his fangs being the center of her focus wasn't his goal. She found herself shuddering as she remembered how those fangs had grown in size, prominent in vicious snarl. Though she didn't shudder out of any fear towards him. No, it was the pure power she remembered him emitting.

The words of the centipede monster and the village men interrupted her thoughts. 'Half-demon spawn!'…. 'The demon InuYasha!'… Their hateful words danced around in her mind until she finally caught his gaze and held it.

Innocently, Kagome let the question that had been taunting her since she'd first laid eyes on him slip out; its escape feather light on her lips.

"What are you?"


	3. Chapter 3

**UPDATED**

Demon Nature

Chapter Three

InuYasha stared at the raven-haired beauty stunned. With all her inspection of his features he really shouldn't have been surprised at her question. He had just honestly assumed her thoughts would take her down a darker path and that instead her question would be more along the lines of 'Why haven't you killed me yet?'

Tilting his head back he smirked at her and purposely let the tip of a single fang poke out; wanting to tease her a bit and see just how "unafraid" of him she really was. Very curious as to how she was going to react, his scarlet-gold eyes watched her intently as he smoothly answered her question with a simple statement.

"A demon."

Quickly catching on to his teasing, Kagome let out a small exasperated sigh as he toyed with her. He didn't scare her one bit now, and honestly, she didn't see how he could. Why would someone go through so much effort to save another just to turn around and hurt them? No, she wasn't concerned for her safety, she was merely curious and little amazed. It was obvious he wasn't human, and he wasn't the first non-human being she had met since literally falling into this strange world.

It would appear her grandfather's old stories about demons and magic were true after all and her mind was buzzing with questions about everything. However, the questions that buzzed the loudest and held her interest most were those regarding her very handsome hero. Taking a deep breath, she let a stream of inquiries come pouring out.

"I know that much just…. _What_ are you? That centipede woman… she called you a half demon? Yet the men, they referred to you as a demon? Why were they afraid of you? Why were you pinned to the Sacred Tree? Why do your eyes change like that? Why do you have those cute ears? Can I touch 'em?!"

Towards the end of her entourage of questions Kagome's voice had risen with excitement, especially at her request to touch his ears. And her stormy eyes were wide in enthusiasm as she stared back at him patiently waiting for the answers she sought.

InuYasha's brow shot up at the slew of inquiries being thrown at him. Astonished as well that the girl didn't seem to breathe during the process. He was trying to keep up with her questions and process them all when the last one in particular caught his attention.

' _My ears? She wants to touch my ears.'_

At first, he didn't know what to make of the odd request, but his demon immediately jumped at the opportunity to have her touch him in anyway. It was, after all, just one more way to coat her in his scent. With that thought in mind he silently answered her last question by leaning his head down and to the side toward her. He gave his right ear an intentional twitch as her green light and a faint smile crossed his lips as she let out a small 'eep' of happiness.

He watched out of the corners of his eyes as she repositioned his red suikan into her right hand. And, to his slight disappointment, she made sure she had a good grip on the material before letting go with her left to reach for his presented ear. His disappointment was soon forgotten though as her small delicate hand made contact with his furry appendage. InuYasha had to stifle a groan at the contact and his eyes fluttered closed as she began to gently massage his white canine ear between a thumb and index finger.

It wasn't long before he felt his demon's urges rising; the need to properly mark her starting to rapidly overwhelm him. He tried to focus his energy elsewhere and concentrate on all the questions she had bombarded him with. However, that proved very difficult to accomplish when she was sending sparks straight from his ear to other… locations.

' _Talented fucking wench…'_

Groaning when he finally couldn't take any more for fear he might act on the desires building in him, he pulled his head back and his ear out of her grasp. Trying to calm down, he refused to let himself look at the woman. His demon was already whispering dirty deeds into his ears and at that moment he didn't need the sight of her to fuel him further.

Sensing her confusion at his sudden retreat, he was happy to focus her attention, and his, on giving her answers. He stared hard at the walls of the cave for a moment, collecting his thoughts before he began. When he finally broke the brief silence between them his voice was low and little raspy from his lingering excitement.

"I'm an Inu Youkai. Technically I am a half demon, but I'm more demon at the moment. That's why my eyes change. With my demon blood so close to the surface, my eyes bleed red. When it takes full control, my whole face transforms."

InuYasha had purposely skipped over one of her questions. He wasn't much for talking in his demon state to begin with, but he honestly just didn't want to get into it. The whole ordeal had been a big mess and had cost him years of freedom. The exact amount of years still unknown to him.

His demon seethed at the reminder of its captivity. Causing his fist to tighten at his side. Before the beast had a chance to get too riled up though it was soothed by the sound of his wench's voice.

"Inu Youkai… so that's why you have dog ears!"

InuYasha allowed himself to glance over at her then. He couldn't help the slight lift at the corner of his mouth as a small giggle escaped her from her amusement for his ears. What for most were a clear symbol of his demon heritage and a warning sign to stay away, to her seemed to bring forth child-like delight. To his knowledge no one else had ever reacted the way she did to his ears and he'd be lying if he said her joy with them didn't make him happy.

His eyes narrowed slightly out of annoyance, however, as she started up again with even more questions. He supposed he should appreciate that she felt comfortable with him and he did have to admit that he preferred her talking to him than shirking away in fear. It also helped that he loved the sound of her voice.

"So what causes your demon blood to rise like that?"

Cocking a brow at her, he was intrigued that she genuinely seemed to want to know more about him. Most humans took him at face value, he was a demon and you stayed away from demons, none ever tried to get to know what made him tick. He supposed he couldn't fault them for it, they did what they had to in order to survive and while not all youkai were murderous blood craving monsters, too many were. So, he could understand why the majority of humans kept their distance. Better to not interact with demons at all rather than take the chance on whether it is a bad or a good youkai you were dealing with.

That was why it really did amaze him that the wench was talking to him like it was the most natural thing. While it wasn't unheard of for humans and youkai to mingle… hell, he'd even had relatively good interactions with humans before and the whole reason for his existence stemmed from the fact that his demon father and human mother came together… there was almost always some unease and apprehension in the encounter. And it normally was on the human's end. But he couldn't scent any fear or apprehension coming from her, which peaked his interest and made him want to continue their conversation all the more despite his usually untalkative state. Turning his body more toward her so that he could make better eye contact as he answered her, his clawed hand idly went to cover the spot where the jewel resided in his hakama pocket.

"Normally, my demon blood rises in order to protect myself. Lending me extra strength and heightened senses. It can also rise some if I feel extreme rage."

Kagome nodded, thinking back on to when she had first met him pinned to the tree. He had been full of rage then and his eyes had flashed red from time to time. But she saw no reason he would be full of rage now. In fact, he seemed to be calm, cool, and collected.

Watching as his words sank in with the wench, InuYasha pulled the jewel out of his pocket as her confusion started to set in. Revealing it to her eyes, he wasn't surprised by the sharp gasp that left her. Her left hand instantly going to press into her left side where the gem had been torn free.

"This is the Sacred Jewel of Four Souls. Being in my possession, it's the jewel that is keeping my demon so close to the surface and at times bringing it forth completely."

Blue-greys never leaving the dark pink almost purple glow of the jewel, Kagome nodded absent mindedly as she took in all the information. Once again it crossed her mind that all of her grandpa's "nonsense" was quickly becoming reality. Although, what InuYasha said last didn't make much sense to her.

"At times?"

InuYasha sighed as he saw even more confusion in her steal-blue gaze and he resigned himself for a long discussion. Contemplating how best to describe everything to her, he started slow and was unsure of his words.

"The Sacred Jewel is made up of both good and evil. Demons, with our energy being dark in nature, bring forth the jewels evil. While those few humans that possess spiritual powers purify the jewel. "

Pausing to make sure she was keeping up with him so far, he was shocked at the words she interjected.

"I know that already. My grandpa told me all about the jewel back home at the shrine. I just don't understand how it can allow your demon energy to completely take over at times and only partially at others?"

Now InuYasha was truly perplexed by the strange girl. She demonstrated spiritual powers, yet seemed astonished that she possessed them? Then she tells him her home is at a shrine, has been told of the jewel, but still seems stunned at seeing it?

Staring hard at her now with skepticism, he wondered briefly what game she was playing at. However, since he had yet to smell any deceit or any other scent that would indicate deception he didn't believe she was lying. Moreover, what purpose would she have for lying about such things? He knew the best way to get to the bottom of everything was to get straight to the point, so he cut no corners in answering her and stated his reply factually.

"It's you."

Kagome felt a little uneasy with how hard InuYasha was staring at her. It was like he was trying to decipher a code. His simple statement didn't help things and only caused her more confusion.

"Me?!"

Deciding it would be better to show her rather than to try to explain, InuYasha reached for her free hand. Mindful of his claws, he gently pulled her hand forward between them and turned it so her palm was up.

Butterflies took flight in her stomach once more as his large calloused hand took hold of her smaller and much softer one. A small blush heated Kagome's cheeks as he turned her hand, the claw of his thumb sending shivers down her spine as it softly grazed the skin of her palm.

She was fixing to ask what he was doing, when his other hand came to place a cool smooth solid object into her palm. As his hand retreated her eyes took in the sight of the dark pink gem. When he released her completely, a small gasp escaped her lungs as she watched and _felt_ the jewel transform. Her blue-greys' were wide as they took in the soft glow of blue and pink surrounding the jewel. And her mouth formed a small O shape as she felt energy leaving her hand, traveling out into the jewel.

The jewels dark pink color swiftly transformed to a pure light pink, to the point it was almost transparent it was so light. It was beautiful and mesmerizing and Kagome was just about to comment such. But the words never came, because as she looked pass the jewel to InuYasha her breathe left her as her gaze took his image in.

Gorgeous golden honey eyes held her stare with not a drop of red in sight. The warmth of them filled her with peace yet set her insides ablaze. They were even more beautiful than the jewel and unquestionably more mesmerizing. In no time she found herself being captivated and enchanted just as she had been when she had first saw his beautiful gaze.

InuYasha held her eyes as he reached out to pluck the jewel from her opened palm. Using her captivation to his advantage, he held the gem between a clawed index and thumb and brought the pink orb up into her line of sight to be sure she would see its transformation. Watching as her eyes slowly focused on the gem, he silently observed as her stormy-greys began to shine in wonderment as the jewel darkened yet again and a dark cloud swam around inside it. Her eyes then jerked back to his and he didn't miss the disappointment in her stare as she watched his own bled red once more.

"With you so close, your spiritual powers help to keep the jewel from completely darkening. Allowing my demon to stay just at the surface, but not taking over my thoughts."

Nodding her understanding, Kagome watched dazed as InuYasha placed the dark pink gem back inside the pocket of his hakama. She wasn't as astonished as she should be to learn that she had spiritual powers, but she _had_ grown up on shrine. Just whoever would have thought her grandpa's crazy stories were true?

Still though something was eating at her.

"How'd it get inside my body?"

InuYasha mentally groaned. He should have known they would eventually come back around to matters of the past. But while he really didn't want to discuss this topic, he reasoned it was better to get it out of the way.

"The Priestess Kikyo was the guardian over the jewel years ago. She was meant to keep it safe and purified at all times. Should anything ever happen to her, she had given strict instructions to have the jewel burned with her body."

Standing, he walked over to the fire to throw more logs onto it. Simply needing to move around since his demon blood was getting antsy as he started speaking of that bitch.

"Because the jewel was inside you… I believe you are her reincarnation."

Having just now realized what he had said InuYasha had to chuckle to himself. It was an odd feeling to realize he felt so different about the same soul. Although he supposed that it wasn't exactly the soul he felt differently toward rather it was the person harboring it. When possessed by the bitch Kikyo he had ended up despising that soul, well more precisely her. Of course, he hadn't always felt that way towards her; in the beginning he had been drawn to her. Now he felt he understood why. He believed his meeting Kikyo was to ultimately lead him to Kagome. Even with the very short amount of time he'd known her, with Kagome as the owner of the soul he felt nothing but fondness.

And the way his demon screamed at him to mark her had all kinds of warning bells going off. Inu-Youkai were part of the group of demons that tended to mate for life and with such a big commitment you had better be damned sure that the one you mated was in fact _'the one'_. That wasn't to say that they couldn't still have some _fun_ before finding their true mate; it was just that their form of what the humans called "marriage" was a little stronger of a bond.

He'd asked his vassal, Myouga, once how Inu-Youkai knew when they'd found their true mate. The little flea hadn't been much help, simply telling him to listen to his instincts. That although he be but a half demon, his father's blood was strong in him and that his demon nature would guide him. That was back when he had first met Kikyo. The pull he'd felt and the feelings he had had for her at one point were a sensation he had never felt before and he thought, incorrectly, that his instincts were trying to tell him something. But his beast had never reacted to her the way that it did with Kagome.

He was so wrapped up in his pondering that InuYasha almost missed his wench's follow up question.

"Who is Kikyo exactly? What happened to her? When you say her name… I can feel the hatred you have for her. And when you first saw me, you hated the sight of me because you thought I was her…"

InuYasha couldn't miss the dejection that crept into her voice. His ears laid back some as he turned slightly to see the melancholy look on her lovely face. Unable to handle the sadness that had settled over her, he rushed to correct her.

"Kikyo was cold. Everything about her was cold. I get angry because she betrayed me."

Finding it more and more difficult to keep himself from physically touching the woman, InuYasha walked over and crouched down right in front of her. Tenderly he brought his clawed hand up to cradle her face, purposely cupping the side that wasn't bruised. He growled low at the splash of ugly colors blending on her delicate flesh. The discoloration spread from the corner of her right eye down to her cheek. Someone had struck her hard and judging by the pattern blemishing her skin it looked like she'd been backhanded.

His eyes then traveled down to the split in her chin, which only helped to cause his blood to boil further. He cursed that he had already killed the man responsible; desiring not for the first time to bring the bastard back to life just so he could slaughter him all over again. Knowing he needed to calm down and that getting angry wouldn't accomplish anything, he forced himself to focused on the woman in front of him.

Looking pass the ugly things that marred her face, InuYasha instead took in her beauty. Her still slightly damp onyx hair framing her face perfectly, with a rebellious stand curling up around her cheek. The curl directed his eyes to her full, and might he add, kissable, lips which were slightly parted. Not wanting to tempt temptation, he forced his gaze on up to her delicate straight nose and further still until his eyes locked with her own. Even as his demon was calmed by her he knew he was in trouble. Kami, he loved her eyes, but the further he let himself fall into them the harder it was to climb back out and gain some control over himself.

Kagome felt her cheeks warm from the proximity she was in with InuYasha. Despite their demonic features, his eyes were kind as he held her face in his hand. For a moment, his stare flashed with anger and she didn't miss the low growl he let out when his eyes focused on the area where she had been struck. Fleetingly his eyes darted down to the split in her chin, and a murderous look came over him. However, just as quickly his gaze turned soft again as his eyes began to roam her face. She could barely suppress a shiver when their gazes clashed and her heart thudded loudly from the depth in which he stared into her.

Abruptly, his eyes left hers just as his hand pulled back from her face. A small whine left Kagome, already missing the affection he conveyed to her through that small contact. His voice grabbed her attention, preventing her from reading too much into things as he went on to give her, her unanswered questions. Sincerely curious about his past and how he had come to be pinned to the Tree of Ages, with an arrow of all things, she listened intently as he told her what had happened to both himself and the dead Kikyo.

InuYasha had pulled his hand from Kagome's cheek out of fear of hurting her. He didn't trust his demons' spikes of anger when he thought of the miko bitch, so he definitely didn't want his dangerous talons so close to such tender flesh.

Eyes focused downward on the ground he began to tell Kagome about how he had once cared for the cold priestess. How he had even helped her to protect the Sacred Jewel. After having grown somewhat close, Kikyo had eventually offered the magic gem to him once in hopes that he would use it to become human. When he turned down her offer, not wishing to lose his demon strength, she began to distance herself.

It wasn't long after that that he discovered her dirty secret hidden away deep in the forest.

Kikyo had been harboring a fugitive. A human man named Onigumo who had lost his ability to move. In her care for him, it seemed she had grown affections for the vile piece of filth. She had then wanted to use the jewel to save his soul and to heal him.

InuYasha had put a major damper on their plans. He had followed Kikyo out to the clearing of the cave one day, concerned over her being so deep into the demon infested forest. That was when he discovered the bandit hidden away inside. Fury had filled him as his keen ears picked up their hushed voices. His demon roaring at such treachery, he sought answers. He confronted Kikyo, and that's when everything went to hell.

The miko bitch told him outright that she simply couldn't be with a demon. That at least there was hope for the fugitive man. It angered InuYasha to hear that she would rather be with a man who had once found joy in committing evil deeds than to be with him. All because he had demon blood running through his veins.

Said demon blood had boiled as he spitefully barked out that he would just take the jewel for himself. That's when Kikyo attacked him. In his haste to escape her arrows in such a confined space, he had knocked over a lantern. The combination of dried leaves and oil spilling had set the cave ablaze. The fugitives' screams had filled his ears as InuYasha took off toward the village. He didn't care what became of the sleazy man or the treacherous bitch. His only goal now was to retrieve the jewel he had once sought after.

He had truly thought he was in the clear, thinking that Kikyo would be too busy trying to save the man from burning alive. It was a jolting shock through his heart that proved to him otherwise.

As his tale ended and his voice trailed off, InuYasha was surprised to catch the tangy scent of salt. Glancing back up to Kagome's face, he was confused to see her holding back tears.

Kagome had sat and listened to InuYasha as he recalled the events that led to his imprisonment with a heavy heart. Each new piece of information causing her to dislike this Kikyo more and more. Pain shot through her heart as she realized that while he had loved her, Kikyo had not returned the emotion to InuYasha. As a result, sad angry tears began to build up in her eyes.

Before he could wrap his head around what was causing his wench distress, InuYasha found himself encased in her small arms. The red cloth of his suikan bunched up between them, acting as the only barrier between their skin. He swallowed hard as he had a clear view of her back side. The angle she had unknowingly placed herself in caused her back to sway and her ass to jut out. He struggled to look away but despite how hard he fought he was losing his inner battle. The thin white material covering her perfectly rounded rear was practically see-through and his greedy eyes happily took in the sight.

His attention was pulled back to her distress, however, as the scent of her tears grew stronger and her arms around his chest tightened as she started trying to speak to him. InuYasha tilted his head to gaze down at the top of her head, astonished as he finally was able to decipher her words.

Kagome couldn't stand it. How could someone toy with another's emotions like that?! Excluding the few minutes when they had first met, InuYasha had been nothing but kind to her. Sure, he was a little rough around the edges but his heart was kind. She could hardly stand what Kikyo had done to him, but knowing that she shared the same soul as the bitch? Kagome felt awful and wanted so badly to take away any hurt that her pre-incarnation had caused him. Without any thought, her body acted on its own accord as she found herself clinging to InuYasha's bare chest. Her modesty leaving her for the moment as she paid no mind to where her covering ended up.

She held him tightly as she fought back her tears. The day had already been a roll coaster of emotions for her and she tried hard not to give in to the urge to cry. Her broken words were thick with emotion and she had to push them past the lump in her throat.

"I…I'm so sorry! You loved her… and she didn't…"

InuYasha was about to speak up to correct her on her 'love' comment, when her next pain-filled words caught the air in his lungs as if a weight had been placed on his chest.

"And... and I look like her! You must hate me… for reminding you of… of that bitch!"

He was completely stunned at first and for a moment all he could do was stare down at her mystified that this human woman considered his feelings to such an extent. Still, he couldn't help but to smirk at how such a harsh word sounded so out of place when leaving the wench's mouth. Her jerky breathes from how hard she was trying to keep from crying finally kicked him into action. InuYasha gently gathered her up in his arms, and cradling her like a child he stood with her in his hold and made his way to the fire.

Sitting with his legs crossed, he made sure to place her bottom up on his left thigh. He didn't want to freak her out; his goal was to calm her not upset her more and his flagpole had been at half-mast for a while now from being around her. Setting her on _that_ would not only ensure that he would be at full attention, but would effectively cause her more distress. And his demon was already growling at him over causing her grief to begin with.

Gathering his thoughts, he stared into the fire as he spoke. His voice a little gruff from his demon being so on edge.

"Yes and no. The shape of your face is similar and your scents are close, but that's where the similarities end. Her hair was a dull brown and her eyes were the same."

He sensed that his words seemed to be calming her. The few tears that had managed to escape her had stopped, leaving small wet trails down her face. Tilting his head InuYasha caught her watery eyes with his own.

"You are warm. Your hair is jet black and your eyes are a blue-grey that are so full of life."

Kagome gazed up into his crimson-amber gaze comforted by his words. She was unable to explain the connection she felt with him. The only thing she knew was how utterly safe she felt in his presence. Especially with how he was holding her now.

She wasn't sure how long she stayed lost in his eyes, it was so easy to do, but whatever spell that held her was broken as he moved. To her horror, he moved his hand to reposition his suikan to cover her sheer bra-clad exposed breast. A small awkward cough leaving his throat as he did so. Mortified, Kagome's face lit up to the color of a bright red tomato. Clutching his suikan tightly to her chest and refusing to meet his eyes, her blush only darkened when she heard a deep chuckle come from him.

InuYasha was filled with male pride at the trust he could see his wench already had for him and his youkai nature was at peace with his ability to calm her. The tranquility of the moment had affected them both; proven when he felt her body relax against his causing his to return the gesture. And just as he thought he could be content with only holding her, a certain piece of rosy pink flesh caught his eye.

Apparently, his suikan had gotten bunched up in all the movement and he was just now noticing how little the crimson material was covering. Her left breast was poking out taunting him with the tight small round nipple he could see through the white fabric. At the sight he felt his demonic lust start to stir once more and InuYasha hastily moved to cover the tantalizing flesh. He done so less out of any kind of chivalry and more out of fear that he would maul the woman.

At seeing how embarrassed the wench became, once she realized she had been exposing herself to him, he couldn't stop the chuckle that left him. His amusement came from both with how mortified she was and with himself.

How many times in one night would he have to fight off his growing desire for this woman?

Hungrily his eyes traveled down her body, but his thoughts shifted as his stare landed on her side. He wondered if the area was still tender to her. Merely wishing to check on her wound, he didn't think as he reached to pull his suikan away from her side.

Kagome jumped as cool night air hit her side from being exposed. Jerking her eyes to the area being revealed to watch as InuYasha's clawed hand pulled his suikan up off of her, her eyes widened. She immediately tried to snatch the material back down to cover herself, but the fabric didn't budge in his grip. Baffled by his actions, her voice left her in a squeak as she shrieked at him.

"What are you doing?!"

InuYasha stilled his movements but didn't release his hold on his suikan. Lifting an eyebrow at her, he stated matter-of-factly as if it were painfully obvious.

"Checking your wound."

Almost immediately, Kagome's face relaxed and her protests dried up as she ceased her, clearly useless, pulling at the suikan covering her. She was now curious herself what kind of damage her body had been left with after the day she had had. And as InuYasha moved the material of his shirt back only far enough to see her side, Kagome was shocked by what she saw.

Having expected a bloody torn gash to meet her eyes, she was truly surprised to find tender bright pink skin. She was instantly lost in thought trying to figure out how she could have healed so quickly. InuYasha's warm fingers lightly brushing the sensitive area pulled her back to reality as the touch caused her to grimace.

His eyes narrowed at the sound of Kagome sucking air through her teeth and he retracted his hand to glare at the large blemish on her side. To say he was angry at himself was an understatement, because InuYasha _knew_ he should have spent more time tending to her wounds.

"How bad does it hurt?"

His tone and appearance puzzled Kagome. The look on his face expressed he was pissed, but although his voice was deep, his tone was gentle and full of concern. Trying to figure out what was going on in his head, her reply came across as meek.

"It's not too bad…just uncomfortable."

Nodding slowly at her response, InuYasha was happy to know her pain wasn't severe. Still his demon pushed him to apologize, seeking forgiveness for not properly caring for his wench.

"I'm sorry. I should have spent more time healing you. I was just concentrating on stopping the bleeding."

He wasn't expecting the confused expression that danced over Kagome's features.

"You did this?"

InuYasha paid no mind as her head gave a short jerk in the direction of her side, instead he could only stare at her stupidly. Did she not remember waking and finding him with his tongue buried in her leg?

"Of course… Who else would have healed you wench?"

Kagome looked at him blankly, paying no attention to his slightly belittling tone. She was focusing hard on trying to recall more of the nights' events when painful memories started to surface.

Her eyes widened as she remembered waking up in horrible pain, only to find her savior to be the cause of it. At the time, she had been terrified by what he was doing and her mind had been too absorbed in the pain pulsing through her to form a coherent thought. Kagome shuddered in a bad way as she recalled the feel of his tongue repeatedly pushing inside her thigh.

Remembering her thigh, she reached to bring the material of the suikan up to see a circular version of the same type skin that was on her side.

Wonderment mixed into her confusion and was slowly starting to take precedence as she kept reminding herself that he had done this. Her stormy-blues found his eyes once more and as his amber-red stare locked with hers, Kagome found herself being truly amazed by this man.

"How did you…?"

InuYasha had sat quietly as his wench scrambled to sort the puzzle out. He knew the second she had finally remembered waking to find him healing her. Her eyes had widened and her body physically shook, not to mention he had heard the hard thumps of her heart as it picked up speed.

He continued to observe as she exposed her thigh, he guessed verifying to herself she hadn't dreamed the ordeal. While she was focused in on her leg, he took that time to inspect the wound himself. His eyes searching intently for anything he may have missed.

His demon chastised himself for not spending more time healing this wound as well. He should have tampered down the battle that had been raging on inside him and continued his treatment on her. His own comfort be damned.

InuYasha was genuinely upset with himself and his guilt worsened as her trusting eyes found his again. Her voice pulled him from his mental turmoil and he tried to focus instead on answering her.

"Some Inu Youkai have a poison element in their blood and saliva. Others', like myself, have healing capabilities."

He watched her face closely as she digested the information. Seeing no signs of fear, he was fascinated yet again by how her trust in him never wavered as she learned more about him and the demonic traits he possessed.

A moment later his breath was stolen from him as a large beautiful smile spread across her face. Her voice a sweet sound to his ears as she spoke softly.

"Thank you."

InuYasha's chest puffed with pride at having pleased his wench in some way. His demon satisfied with her acknowledgement and approval over what he'd done to save her. However; as her face fell and a far-off look entered her eyes, his happiness sank. Watching her gaze go from her side then to her thigh, her sigh was heavy on his ears.

"I guess I'm going to be covered in scars…"

The small sad smile that took place over her once vibrant one ate at him and in no time, he rushing to fix it. His demon nature was of course only encouraging him; pleased at possibility of righting his wrong. So, he spoke before he gave any thought to just exactly what he was offering or what he was going to be putting himself through.

"I can fix that."


	4. Chapter 4

**UPDATED**

Demon Nature

Chapter Four

Kagome jerked her stormy-blue's back to InuYasha's intense scarlet-amber eyes as his offer reached her ears. In her excitement she missed how deep his voice had fallen; the prospect of her body not being riddled with scars was the only thing she could focus on. It never crossed her mind just how exactly he would accomplish such a task.

"You can?!"

InuYasha's heated stare only grew more intense with how excited she seemed by the idea. He gave a short nod of confirmation before he spoke once more with his deepened voice.

"If you're alright with it."

A large smile had taken over Kagome's face at seeing his nod of confirmation and her knee jerk reaction was to quickly agree. However, as his heated gaze never left her eyes his words started to slowly sink in.

If she was alright with it? Why wouldn't she be ok with getting rid of scars? Suddenly the light bulb went off in her head as she finally managed to put 2 plus 2 together. She remembered just how he had originally healed her wounds…

InuYasha was amused as the wench's face quickly turned a crimson red as she finally realized what exactly his offer entailed. He couldn't help but to wonder how far her blush went as his eyes followed her flushed skin down her neck, but unfortunately his red suikan hid the rest of her flesh from his greedy stare.

"Um…"

The small sound of her unsure voice pulled his gaze back up to her own. Immediately, he could tell she was having an inner struggle. He knew she didn't want her body covered with ugly reminders of the pain she'd went through. Yet she was reluctant to grant a demon she had just met permission to lick her in what were some private locations.

At the thought of her turning him down, InuYasha could feel the desperate need of his demon rise. He _needed_ to heal her. Although, he didn't see it going very well if he forced the act on her. Searching for a way to put her mind at ease and for her to allow him to heal her in some way, he offered her a deal.

"How 'bout we start small? And we can work our way up to the bigger areas if you feel comfortable."

As he watched the tempting wench bite her bottom lip in consideration, he had to choke back a groan. He _**needed**_ to heal her. InuYasha's next words came out strained as he tried to rein back his demanding youkai nature.

"I promise not to touch you anywhere you don't want."

He was relieved to see Kagome's eyes light up at those words. Her trust in him obvious and so complete in such a short amount of time. As she spoke her tone was hopeful, her voice almost childlike.

"Promise?"

Sensing her willingness to comply, he didn't hesitate to seal the deal as he nodded in agreement. An odd mixture of dread and excitement filled him once he realized just how he had sealed his fate. Hadn't he had just spent the early parts of the night fighting back his demon urges? Her blood having called forth the need to mark her. His youkai having tried to convince him that if he marked her she would be safe from anything like this happening again.

Lowly demons would smell him on her and would realize their impending death if they got too close. Higher function demons would either respect his claim or challenge it. And the only ones who would dare challenge it were the ones just looking for trouble to begin with.

The small amount of dread that had started to form at having to possibly face another inner struggle was promptly beat down by his excitement. The thought of both healing her and scent marking her pleasing his youkai side. If he couldn't mark her from the inside out, then this would have to do.

Eagar to get started, InuYasha brought his clawed hand up to cup the left side of Kagome's face. She didn't jerk, nor did he scent any fear from her as he brought his face closer to her own. Although, her eyes did squeeze shut as he ran his tongue lightly over the small cut high on her right cheek. A couple swipes of his wet appendage was all it took for the mistreated flesh to heal.

The small taste of her dried blood still called out to him, but he was relieved that its' effects weren't as strong. As his mouth formed over the wound of her split chin, almost as if he were kissing her, he thought hopefully that he could keep his promise.

After a few swipes of his tongue on her chin he could smell as her nervous scent started to grow. So before going any further he brought his head back to inspect her face and give her a small reprieve. He was content for a moment to see the cuts had disappeared, but his eyes grew dim as they took in the nasty bruise still taking residence.

"I'm sorry I can't fix that…"

Kagome had opened her eyes when she felt InuYasha pulling away from her chin and she watched him curiously as he inspected her face for a brief moment. During which some of her nervousness started to dissipate from the warmth and gentleness of his hand still cupping her face. As his soft apologetic words reached her ears, her blue-greys caught with his crimson-gold. The honesty of his words was driven home as she saw in his gaze how genuinely sorry he was that he couldn't fix a bruise.

All her remaining uncertainties melted away right then. This man, this demon she had barely known for a day, had her complete trust. He had protected and cared for her vigorously, and Kagome doubted she could ever repay him.

She smiled shyly at him then, wanting to comfort and assure him in some way.

"It's all alright. It'll be gone in no time! You'll see."

Her small hands came up to cover his larger one still cupping her cheek as she pushed her face more into his palm. And her smile grew as the act caused the faintest of smiles to appear on his handsome face.

Chewing on her bottom lip, Kagome cleared her throat as she bravely spoke her next words.

"You ugh… you can continue. I'm comfortable with you."

InuYasha was lost in the moment they were sharing, the softness of her calming his demon. Her voice, her hands, just _her_. She seemed so fragile with her soft skin and petite frame, yet he knew there was a fire deep inside of her. Not many human girls, hell even some human men, would have survived what she had went through otherwise.

As her confirmation to continue reached him, the moment shattered. His demons' excitement started to build again. She was allowing him to heal her, fix his mistake, and in the process put his scent all over her.

Deciding that if she were truly going to allow him to do this that he would need better access, InuYasha cradled her as he stood. He walked back over to the old pile of furs to set her on his white kosode and crouching down in front of her he brought her right arm up towards him. Starting small as he had said he would, he started at her wrist and worked his way up her arm. His tongue darted out coating even the tiniest of scratches with his healing saliva.

As he reached her bicep, he paused at hearing small giggles reach his canine ears. Cocking a brow at her, InuYasha smirked and shook his head as she blushed prettily and mumbled 'tickles'.

Finished with her right arm he leaned over to her left, this time starting at her shoulder and working his way down to her wrist. He didn't pause this time as she once again let loose unintentional giggles, but a silly grin still made its way to his lips.

Fully focused to his task, he didn't hesitate in reaching to remove his suikan from her body once he had finished with her left arm. He was anxious to tend to what was left of her major wounds and wanted to get the process started so he could be finished with this self-inflicted torture relatively quickly. Two delicate hands clutching the shirt stopped him.

Glancing back up to her face, he could tell it wasn't her lack of trust in him causing her to stop his progress. No, as InuYasha watched her light blush spread across her cheeks and her eyes fill with uncertainty while refusing to make contact with his own, he was reminded of what his nose had already told him.

She was untouched. Pure.

His demonic energy sang at that little reminder. The beast inside him whispering dirty delicious deeds he could do to her. Not to mention his greedy demon loved the idea of her being truly his.

Mentally shaking away such thoughts, InuYasha tried to get a handle on his wilder self. He had made a promise. Even his darker-self had some honor.

Tilting his head just enough to lock eyes with his wench, his stare was all business. Once he had her attention he gently started to pull his suikan away again. Her slight resistance vanished almost immediately as he spoke low to reconfirm his deal.

"I promise."

After reiterating his promise, her delicate brows scrunched together for a second in thought before her hands released their hold on his suikan and fell to her sides. Just like that her body was revealed to his eyes. And it was much more stunning now that she wasn't bleeding everywhere.

Even dry her white sheer coverings were practically see-through and her pink nipples beckoned his attention; peaking up at him as the cool air found them. Clearing his throat, InuYasha had to force himself to stay on task and pry his eyes to travel to her marred left side.

Needing her to lay flat so he could more comfortably tend to her side, he gently pushed her back by her shoulders. He couldn't stop the smirk that appeared at seeing her blush grow more. Amused by that and the fact that her eyes refused to meet his again.

Once she was lying flat on her back, her arms instantly came to cover her chest. InuYasha actually thought it was cute how she hid her face from him behind her clenched fist. His amusement continuing to grow at her innocence.

Kagome was petrified with embarrassment. She told herself what InuYasha was doing for her wasn't anything sexual, he was just healing her. And she tried to reason with herself that he had already seen it all before from when he had healed her the first time. That thought helped a little, but she still couldn't bring herself to look at him. She felt kind of pathetic trying to hide her face from him, but this was just all so new to her. For in all of her 17 years she had only kissed one boy.

It hadn't even been a good kiss either! At the end of her date with her classmate Houjou he had rushed in mouth wide, tongue leading the charge. It had been sloppy, at times almost making her gag, and completely unenjoyable.

And she now suddenly found herself in a strange world, half naked, with a gorgeous demon man getting ready to lick her all over in order to heal her.

It was definitely a big jump for her. No man had ever seen her like this, let alone touched her in such a way. Although, InuYasha wasn't just simply a man, was he?

Feeling as he moved over her body bringing his face closer down to her side, Kagome peeked down at him through her hands. Her breath caught as her eyes were captured by his intense stare. And as if he had been waiting on her to look, once he held her gaze he slowly started to inch closer to her skin. Mesmerized, she couldn't take her eyes off of him even if she had wanted to.

When his hot pink tongue finally made contact and gave a long leisurely stroke over her side, Kagome's entire being was set on fire. It was a strange combination dancing over her nerve endings. Some of her skin was still tender, causing her to let out little whimpers of discomfort. Yet as he kept up his healing strokes, a tingling sensation took over and her discomfort was quickly replaced with something else entirely.

Kagome's eyes stared to widen as she felt the fluttering of butterflies start up again, his heated gaze only intensifying the effects. She was barely able to hold back a moan as his attentions caused liquid heat to pool in her nether regions. But her complete mortification came when she felt InuYasha halt his languid swipes. Pausing only long enough for her witness the twitch of his nose and the sight of a sharp pointed fang as he smirked. No… InuYasha was not a mere man.

InuYasha wasn't sure why he felt the need to tease the poor girl more. Already fully aware of how uncomfortable she felt, his demon wanted to push his luck and push her further. Perhaps it was the fact the she was innocent that caused his demon to push, wanting to see how far he could get before she drew the line.

A very primal side of him wanted to see what he could tease out of her. What dirty secrets could he uncover. How many unholy desires could he cause one so pure?

His demon got a sick thrill out of that thought. For she was truly a priestess, wasn't she? Even if it was obvious that she'd had no training as such, priestesses were looked upon as pure and holy.

As the dark lustful thoughts of his demon began to take control, InuYasha tried to reel them in and reminded himself again of his promise.

But he didn't have to break that promise to tease her now did he?

His gaze heated at his found loophole. As he slowly lowered his head to her, his amber-red eyes never left his wench's face and he waited patiently for her to finally take a peek.

As soon as her eyes had locked with his own he put his plan into action. With every stroke of his tongue he rejoiced in the growing excitement in her steel-blue stare. Slowly coaxing out her inner wanting's.

When the faint scent of her arousal rose; he purposely let her know he knew with a fanged grin, his demon smug with victory.

And so, began round 2 of his inner struggle.

As the musky scent of her filled his lungs, his demon became crazed with lust. It was no longer content with marking her with his scent by merely healing her. His demon demanded more. And InuYasha found himself once again in a hurry to heal her wounds. However, this time he couldn't stick it with a fork and call it done. The whole point of this was to completely heal her wounds.

Now fighting with his own arousal, he breathed a sigh of relief when he pulled back to see the wench's side was flawless once more. Needing to distance himself from her intoxicating aroma he quickly scooted his body lower. Taking himself down to her ankles, he planned on slowly working his way up. Her legs were covered in various scratches and scrapes so it was the perfect way to allow himself some time to calm down.

He felt a short growl escape him as his eyes landed on her bruised and swollen left ankle. InuYasha knew she had caused this injury herself from jumping down into a dry well for some gods forsaken reason. But he still couldn't stop the anger he felt at seeing yet another part of her hurt.

For a moment, his protective instincts came racing forward tampering down his lust. He supposed he should feel uneased at how quickly and strongly his demon had claimed her as his, yet somehow it felt so natural.

Knowing that it would do no good, yet still wishing to show the abused flesh some tenderness, he lightly ran his tongue over the discolored skin of her ankle. His ears twitched at the small hiss she let out.

After closer inspection he was relieved to find that her ankle only appeared to be sprung and not broken. She should be able to walk on it normally in a few days and until then she could put some slight pressure on it. Or he could just carry her everywhere, he had no problem with that idea at all.

Satisfied that her ankle's injury wasn't serious, InuYasha turned his attention to her legs. He went back and forth between the two as he worked his way up. Not allowing a single tiny scratch to go untreated by his healing saliva. But the further he climbed up her body the more his desire started to rise. Getting so close to the source of her heavenly scent filled him with lustful excitement and his greedy demon took over slightly as he brought himself closer to her thigh.

As his clawed hand lifted her right leg up to him he felt the small startled jerk he caused her from the action. Forcing her legs apart in doing so, a demonic groan escaped him as her scent flooded his senses. He was having a hard time remembering his promise as he let his beast take the lead. Bringing his mouth down on the tender spot on the front of her leg, he began to sensually lick her.

With his face being so intimately close to her womanhood, his nose mere inches from the tantalizing scent, InuYasha lost himself.

His demon took charge as his hot pink tongue stroked her flesh more vigorously. The small gasps escaping her music to his ears. He continued to bath her thigh well after he knew it was healed. He wanted to hear her moan for him. He wanted her smell so strong it filled not only him but the whole damn cave. He wanted to taste more than her dried sweat and blood…

With his demon urging him on, InuYasha struggled to stop himself as he suddenly found his mouth working its' way up. Thinking fast, he quickly flipped the wench to her stomach. Ignoring her surprised 'umph' from having turned her over so fast he forced himself back down to her ankles. Wishing desperately that his demon would recede some, he started to heal the back of her legs.

He was granted no reprieve, however, as he made quick work on her legs despite how hard he fought to go slow and he soon found himself back up her body. Healing the back part of her thigh was no better than the front, the position of the wound put his face in close proximity to her mouthwatering scent and he found himself spending a lot of time there almost mirroring his treatment of the front side of her thigh. Forcing himself away from the area before he got too carried away, he lifted his head up to inspect that the injury was completely healed. A low constant growl escaped him, though as his eyes glanced up to see the scrapes on the cheeks of her ass. Her white flimsy material covering little.

Kagome had lost herself as InuYasha's treatment on her thigh was very different from the rest of her. She would have sworn he was purposely making the process a sinful act. A hint of nervousness had started to build as she felt his mouth travel higher, heading for more forbidden territory. Yet it disappeared to be replaced with surprise and confusion as she suddenly found herself on her stomach.

She was still trying to wrap her head around what had just happened when she felt his tongue at the back of her legs. For a brief moment Kagome considered maybe she was reading too much into his actions. Maybe he wasn't purposely being sensual with his touch. Perhaps he was just simply healing her. And it was her inexperienced body behaving badly at being touched in such a way.

His treatment of the back of her thigh immediately followed by his tongue softly gliding over her ass cheek broke that line of thinking. As she felt him give the same type of attention to the back of her thigh as he did the front, she bit her lip to keep quiet. But when he began lavishing each butt cheek, she couldn't stop the long moan his menstruations pulled from her.

Having tried so hard to contain herself and not let such noises out, she found she couldn't stop herself now that the lid had been smashed open. As the long hot swipes of his talented tongue started traveling up her back, Kagome was surprised and slightly ashamed at how wanton she sounded.

Who would have thought ones' back could be such a place of pleasure?

She lost her ability to care as she felt his lips dragging across her hyper sensitive skin; his healing licks seeming to turn into passionate kisses on her body. The heat of his bare chest reached her as his attentions now fell to her shoulder blades and the flesh of her back tingled each time his movements caused his chest to come into contact with her. Overwhelmed, Kagome's fist clenched the fabric of his kosode that she laid on.

She vaguely realized he was purring again, remembering the deep soothing sound from earlier in the night as it echoed in the cave. Fleetingly, she wondered how long he had been doing so and how she hadn't noticed before now. However, as she felt the sharp sensation of his teeth as he nipped the area where her neck and shoulder met she lost all rational thought.

InuYasha was fueled by the noises he was able to pull from his wench. As he traveled up her back he noticed that it seemed to be the only place that somehow didn't receive any injuries. The licks he placed on her flesh as he crept further up her body were purely for pleasure now. Brazenly, he purposely let his lips drag across her skin and started placing hot kisses to her back as well.

The sounds and smell of her had truly taken over him, allowing his demon to come to the fore front. His fangs elongated as he placed a loving nip on the spot he chose to mark. The act caused his demon energy to rise even more, and as he felt the change in himself he didn't fight it.

He knew by now his face must have been claimed by jagged purple markings. Yet he didn't give a damn as his clawed hands found her hips. Jerking her up so that her ass was presented to him, InuYasha groaned deeply as his hardened throbbing member was pressed into her luscious backside. He flexed his claws, prepared to remove the obstacle of her white under garments.

Her startled cry and spark of fear that entered her scent stilled him. His eyes sought out her face only to find her own were squeezed shut. With her face buried in the material of his kosode he realized that somewhere along the way her excitement had changed.

The succulent scent of her arousal was still heavy in the air, though, making it difficult for him to halt his demonic train of thought. The wench wanted him, her body practically screamed at him to take her. His demon roared at him to finish what he had started. Yet a gentler part of him, the more human part, knew her body and mind could want different things. She was only human after all; she knew nothing of a demon's nature. How they claimed their mates.

An inu bitch would have relished in the control he had over her body and given in freely to her body's desires. Yet she would also have the ability to fight back against the claim. His wench was human. She didn't have talons or fangs to ward him off with, she had nothing to defend herself against his superior strength. Which put her completely at his mercy.

Mercy wasn't exactly something youkai gave, it was rare and usually seen as weakness. It was something he struggled with throughout his life, the conflicting feelings his demon and human halves both brought forth on the subject. He had eventually come to realize that though his blood was that of a youkai, a very powerful one that caused his demon side to be hard to control at times; he still had a human heart. His mother's heart. So, he understood that while her body may have begged him to continue, that it would hurt her if he allowed himself to do so. He knew he could very well break her in the state of mind she was in currently.

InuYasha was physically shaking with the effort it took to push himself away from her body. Landing on his ass, his eyes wouldn't leave the sight of her own plump round ass as it slowly dropped back down to the ground; no longer being held up by his demanding hands.

Sensing her confusion and smelling as her fear ebbed away, his stare was unintentionally hard as she lifted her head and turned slightly just enough to look back at him. The vision of her before him sent lustful shock waves through his body. Fearing he would lose control completely and angry with how little self-control he had, InuYasha knew he needed to put distance between himself and her. If he was going to keep her trust and his promise he needed to leave. Now.

With a harsh growl leaving his lips, his entire body tensed as his muscles sprang into action. He never would have thought he could retreat so swiftly…

Kagome had been lost, thoroughly enjoying InuYasha's treatment of her body. She had been both nervous and thrilled as he brought out new feelings in her. However, as his actions became more demanding she came crashing back down to reality. A small wave of fear hit her as he jerked her hips up, her ass colliding with a very hard intimate part of him. And while she didn't fear InuYasha himself, the seriousness of the situation and what he was now preparing to take from her she did.

After a small sudden cry escaped her lips, she abruptly found herself unable to speak. His growling purr working its strange magic in keeping her entire body lax. Yet her mind was racing in panic.

Her anxiety eased as she felt the heat of him leave her completely. Noticing as his purr ceased its rolling rumble, Kagome was left confused. Feeling his gaze still heavy on her body, she slowly raised her head to look back at him. The angry disgusted look in his eyes she saw staring back at her froze her in her spot. She was just noticing the faint jagged purple markings on his cheeks when let out a hard growl. Then suddenly he was gone.

Blinking slowly, she hesitantly turned her head as she looked around the now dimly lit cave. The fire had burned low, but the small illumination was coming from the mouth of the cave. It was the early dawn's light making its way in.

Suddenly feeling exposed, Kagome reached for InuYasha's discarded suikan. Sitting up and putting her arms through the slits at the top she paused before tying the sleeves around her. Looking down her body her eyes stared at the spot where her skin had once been tainted at her side. She should have felt over joyed to see the flesh smooth and blemish free. Yet she felt nothing as her heart thudded in her chest.

Forgetting about tying the sleeves, her mind began to race. What had she done to make InuYasha so angry? Why did he disappear like that? He had looked so disgusted.

A dirty ashamed feeling consumed her as she thought back to how wanton she had been. Had she disgusted him? Had his intent all along been to heal her and her wild imagination had just run wild?

As the silence of the cave clogged her ears, Kagome felt so small and alone. She found herself wishing for her mother's comforting embrace and wise words. And as soon as that thought found her, she crumbled to ground as realization struck. She had lost her family. Her mom, her brother, her grandpa; all taken from her in a blink of an eye. She was left stranded in a world she knew nothing about, full of monsters and savage people.

And she just angered the only soul who was kind to her and who she felt she could trust.

Sobs racked her small frame as she cried into the kosode InuYasha had laid her on. She cried until her eyes hurt and grew heavy, exhaustion finally creeping up on her. And as sleep dragged her mind down into its beautiful blankness, Kagome thought she heard a roar in the distance. Yet her body never flinched. Her trust in her protector so strong even her unconscious mind believed he would allow no harm to come to her.

* * *

InuYasha raced through the morning light to put more distance between him and the wench; his feet lightning fast as he leaped from tree to tree. His demon was livid and fully in control as he now had so much space separating him from the spiritual woman. Anger built inside of him, causing a growl to escape him and fill the air. He had almost broken his promise. If it hadn't been for his human heart stepping in, he would have. Now he was left furious at himself and unsatisfied. And he was still having to fight himself to keep from going back to the female.

He found himself once again wondering just how long he was enchanted to that fucking tree. Surely the desire to mate and mark that woman wasn't strictly caused by her?

It had to be coupled with years without sexual release. Had to. Otherwise that meant the wench truly had that strong of a hold over him already. And that thought both thrilled and scared him somehow.

Catching the scent of snake youkai, he smiled darkly. Finally, something to take his frustrations out on. The youkai was too close to his reclaimed territory anyway…

InuYasha was upon the large slimy serpent in no time. He didn't even bother taunting it, as his claws immediately ripped its massive body to shreds. Staring down at his blood-soaked claws, he felt no better. His demon energy still coursed through his veins needing more before it would be content.

The distant sound of broken feminine cries entered his ears, and he instantly recognized them to be his wench's. His demon grew even more livid. Letting out a deafening roar from the pent-up frustrations he held, InuYasha took off once more in search of something to sink his claws in to…

* * *

Kaede listened tiredly as the village men all tried to frantically speak at once. She had spent the better part of the night aiding a young lady as she gave birth to her first born. So as soon as her tired bones entered her hut she was bombarded with terror filled voices.

She had heard earlier in the night as Jun's voice filled the air after running into the village yelling for help. He screamed about a dark miko and a centipede monster and how Katashi needed more men.

Unable to leave the side of the young lass she tended, all she could do was hope that the village men would be able to take care of the threat. Hours had passed and soon all her focus was on delivering the babe safely.

Sighing as the men shouted over one another, Kaede calmly told them to settle down. As she started tending to the injuries of the wounded, dread started to fill her as one by one the men pieced together the nights' events to her.

They all spoke of a strangely dressed girl. All believing her to be a dark priestess and blaming her for summoning the centipede monster. Yet that is not what worried Kaede. For as soon as the men told her that the dark miko resembled her deceased elder sister Kikyo, they had her full attention. When they recounted how the strange girl had awoken the demon InuYasha, dread had filled her completely.

And when the men revealed to her that the woman had processed the Sacred Jewel, fear consumed Kaede.

Each man continued on, yelling about how they had begged the woman not to release the beast InuYasha. Yet she had unleashed him on them anyway. That was when Jun's hate filled voice rang out above everyone else's.

"He slaughtered Katashi! That dark miko had that filthy monster kill him!"

Kaede could see the grief in Jun's hard eyes and felt a small pang of pity for him. Jun had followed Katashi around since he was small, looking up to the older boy. As men, Jun had still thought highly of Katashi and never questioned him. He was truly obedient to him.

Having tended to all the men who needed her assistance, Kaede assured them she would get to the bottom of this. As she urged them out of her hut and to go into their own homes, her eyes landed on Hiroshi.

Hiroshi was the third man that had been out scouting today. He obviously had been there at the start of all the madness, yet he had said nothing this entire time.

As the last man left her hut except for him, Kaede looked at Hiroshi curiously. He had a far-off look to his eyes as he stared down at the ground. Obviously, something was troubling the man.

"Is there something ye wish to tell me Hiroshi?"

As Kaede's soft old voice broke the silence that had fallen over them, Hiroshi furrowed his brow in concentration. Finally finding the nerve to speak, he sounded unsure of himself.

"Lady Kaede, while it is true that the young lass was dressed strangely… and she did indeed release the demon InuYasha… my lady… I cannot find it in myself to say she was evil."

Intrigued, Kaede listened intently as Hiroshi spoke. He was always such a kind and true man and she knew whatever Hiroshi told her would be as accurate as he could remember.

"The lass reminded me of my own daughter at seeing demons the first time, Lady Kaede. She was young and terrified. Me thinks… she released the demon InuYasha out of desperation. He told her she would die otherwise."

As Hiroshi paused, Kaede waited patiently for him to continue. She sensed he was about to tell her something he felt ashamed for and knew others would not agree with his line of thinking.

"My lady… I do not believe the young girl was a dark miko, although she did demonstrate the powers of a priestess… I believe she was lost and frightened and held no power over either the centipede monster or the demon InuYasha… and… InuYasha did not attack us outright as the others allude to. I believe he slaughtered Katashi the way that he did because… Katashi struck her with an arrow."

Instantly Kaede's old face hardened and her words were rougher than she meant for them to be.

"Did anyone not try to stop him?"

Hiroshi rushed on to explain what had happened, fumbling over his words even more.

"Ay… Aye my lady! I fought with him over his bow… but that was not the only time Katashi harmed her… He struck her face with the back of his hand earlier in the late evening and dragged her through the forest. He was insistent that she was a dark miko… I am truly sorry Lady Kaede that I did nothing to stop him…"

Kaede nodded, not surprised that Katashi had treated the girl in such a way. He had always been a firm man. Truly worried for both her village and the girl now from Hiroshi's tale, Kaede's mind turned over what to do.

"Ye said the young lass disappeared into the Forest of InuYasha? And that he possessed the Sacred Jewel when you last saw him correct?"

At Hiroshi's nod of confirmation, Kaede knew what she must do. Retrieving a piece of paper, a brush and ink, she hurriedly wrote down a message. She turned to Hiroshi and spoke as she allowed the ink time to dry.

"Hiroshi if ye are truly mournful in not doing more to aid that child then I am greatly in need of your assistance."

Without hesitation, Hiroshi agreed to do whatever it was Kaede needed of him.

"I need ye to deliver a message and do so with haste. If ye leave now you should arrive to your destination in a fortnight, possibly half that if you are swift in your journey and don't run into any delays…"

As she folded and handed the written message to him, Kaede watched as determination took over his features. He bowed low to her and ran out into the rising morning light; gripping the letter tightly.

Watching from her door as Hiroshi made quick goodbyes to his wife and daughter and gathered needed supplies, Kaede couldn't shake the dread she felt burning inside of her. As Hiroshi rode out of the stables on horseback and took off, she prayed he made the journey safely and timely.

A fierce demonic roar echoed into the village from the surrounding forest, causing a shiver of fear to course through her old bones. She prayed it wasn't too late by the time her message reached its destination…


	5. Chapter 5

I want to apologize for taking a bit longer getting this next chapter to you all! So I come baring a gift! Not only do you get another chapter (which I hope you enjoy) but I have made a piece of fanart to go along with the story. I'll leave it up to you all to decide which part it is from. You can find the fanart by going to deviantart and finding Shardetector. The piece's title is 'Healing' and it does contain mature content/theme. I really hope you enjoy both the new chapter and the fanart!

**UPDATED**

* * *

Demon Nature

Chapter Five

It was hours before InuYasha dragged himself back to his hidden little cave, not quite noon but the sun was well and truly up. He could only hope that his demon was spent after his strenuous activities.

He hadn't been able to find anything else to kill after he slaughtered the snake youkai. No sign of anything; no prey, no ugly demon beast. Nothing. The angry demonic roar he had let loose had scared everything away. So, he had to settle for taking his frustrations out on innocent trees…

' _We're going to have a lot of firewood.'_

He snorted at his own joke. Some mighty demon he was, he couldn't even control himself around a mere human woman and had to slaughter trees because of it. Well that and run all over creation searching for something to kill. Even that was difficult to do, because while he had needed space from his wench he hadn't dared venture too far.

As he walked into the dimly lit cave, his eyes sought out the object of his desires and frustrations. Locating her petite figure, InuYasha felt the change in him as he slowly approached her sleeping form. His blue iris's turning golden once more as the harsh jagged purple streaks disappeared.

Bending down on one knee next to her, his heart sank as he took in her tear stained face. It pained him to see her in such a state and he knew he could have prevented it if only he'd been stronger. Knowing she was in distress he had found himself venturing back to their cave several times, everything in him wanting to seek her out to comfort her. But each time InuYasha would regain his senses enough that he hadn't let himself come to her. He was too afraid of doing something he would regret. Shattering her faith in him, causing her to fear him. He had wanted to wear his demon down before coming back to his precious miko.

On its own accord, his hand went to her face and he gently wiped away the salt of a dried tear with him thumb. At his touch the wench instantly seemed more relaxed and the tiniest of smiles appeared on her face.

InuYasha smiled sadly to himself. He had left her here alone and more than likely confused to hell and back. He couldn't forgive himself for leaving her to cry by herself, but he would take that any day over the alternative that almost took place...

Seeing her body give a small shiver from a cool breeze that entered the cave, he stood. Silently gliding over to the fire pit, he set to getting the fire blazing once more, wanting to make sure his fragile guest stayed warm since it was starting to get chilly as autumn set in.

Once he had brought the fire back to life, he got lost in thought thinking of the beautiful woman. Where was his wench from anyway? He had traveled far in his life and had never seen clothing as strange as hers.

She acted as if she had never before seen a demon. Her spiritual powers were strong from what he could tell, yet she was untrained. Not only that but she acted like she hadn't ever seen her powers before either.

InuYasha was jerked from his ponderings as he heard his name being called softly from the sleepy wench as she came conscious.

"InuYasha…?"

Her voice sounded so small and hurt that he wanted to do anything to take it away and replace it with her smile. Turning his head to look back at her, his heart melted as he was met with unsure blue-grey eyes. Sighing, he turned back around to stare off over the fire. He wanted to go to her, but he wasn't sure he trusted his demon to behave. Unsure of what he should do and still somber over the pain he'd caused her, his voice was soft as he replied to her.

"What?"

His canine ears were met with only her silence. He scented the air to try to decipher where her thoughts were taking her, but he came up short as he could only smell the salt of her old tears and a slight anxious odor coming from her.

As his ears picked up the sound of her abruptly moving around, he glanced back over his should to see what she was up to. Watching as she tried to find her balance to stand, he heard the sound of the harsh hiss that left her as soon as she tried to put weight on her swollen ankle. Immediately she started to fall back down, and having not stood up completely it was a short trip to the ground. Her ass never hit the furs, however, as InuYasha was right there to catch her.

Cradling her to his chest, he glared down at her annoyed that she had hurt herself. As he set her back on his white kosode, his voice was scolding as he addressed her.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

Kagome wouldn't meet his glare as she stared anxiously down at her lap. Biting her lower lip out of nervousness, she found some hope in that it didn't feel like InuYasha was angry with her. He seemed more concerned than anything else.

Slowly she brought her gaze to his own, noticing how his annoyed glare quickly changed into something tender. It was odd how such wicked looking eyes, glowing with red and gold, could convey a sweet affection as tenderness.

Still a little insecure and slightly confused at the signals he was sending; Kagome's voice was small as she answered him innocently.

"I wanted to come sit with you…"

InuYasha was relieved to hear her words. He had feared that he had damaged the trust she held in him from his earlier behavior. To hear she still wanted to be close to him gave him a sense of warm inner calm.

Shaking his head, he gave out a small 'keh' and promptly lifted her back up as he took her place and sat down on his kosode. Repositioning her in his arms he sat her between his crossed legs. He kept his arms wrapped loosely around her; unable to bring himself to release her, but not wanting to make her feel trapped either.

Smirking playfully down at her he tried his best to make her comfortable and to erase any lingering sadness she had. When he spoke, he didn't even try to hide the amusement that he felt.

"There. Now you're sitting with me."

InuYasha was rewarded with a small smile and a soft giggle. His male ego and his demon both proud to have brought that from her. As she softly laid her head on his bare chest, his pride only grew and he couldn't stop his demons' line of thinking.

He was doing well at proving to her he would be a suitable mate.

Trying his best to rid himself of such thoughts, he reminded his demon that she was human. His wench wouldn't see it quite like that. From his little experience with humans, he guessed she would see it as him being 'nice'. Possibly, if he was lucky, that he 'liked' her.

Snorting silently to himself, he couldn't help but to think that 'like' was a huge understatement. He wasn't even in the same region as 'like'. 'Like' was across the ocean somewhere on the other side of the world.

"I'm sorry…"

His train of thought was halted at the sound of her small and hesitant voice. He looked down at her in his arms truly confused. What did she have to apologize for? And why was she once again avoiding his gaze?

As her scent started to change to a horrible mixture of disgust and embarrassment, InuYasha wasted no time in getting to the bottom of what troubled her.

"For?"

He felt as she shrank into herself some, and watched curiously as she chewed her bottom lip. His ears were trained forward waiting on her to explain herself. And as he saw the blush that took over her face, he was really intrigued.

However, once she finally found the nerve to speak, he was angry with himself all over again.

"For earlier… I'm not sure what I did, but… you looked so mad. I know you were just trying to help me. I'm sorry if I made you angry by… doing something."

Kagome found it was a lot harder to pointblank say what had happened earlier with her body. It was all the more difficult knowing that he was staring down at her with his piercing crimson-honey eyes.

She knew her apology was lame, but she had to try hard just to get that much out. It was extremely embarrassing, but it was worth it. She really didn't want to lose her only friend in this strange place.

What an understatement. She knew there was more to it than that. She could have a hundred friends and be ok with losing them all, if she just got to keep one particular handsome inu demon around.

She was startled from her thoughts as she felt said demons' finger hook under her chin. Her heart practically pounded out of her chest as he lifted her face to force her look at him. When her eyes finally met his, her breathe caught at the seriousness held in his scarlet-gold stare. As he spoke low to her, his words washed through her with a wave of relief.

"You have nothing to be sorry for wench. You did nothing wrong. What happened? That was all me. And I was angry at myself, not you. If anything is your fault, it's how damn delicious you smell."

Kagome blushed down to her toes at what he said last. Unable to tear her eyes away from his heated gaze, butterflies were starting to take flight at being the center of his attention. Trying hard to redirect his focus, she managed to squeak out one word.

"Why?"

Understanding the meaning behind her vague inquiry, InuYasha sighed. Releasing her chin, he was pleased when she didn't look away from him. He knew he owed her an explanation. Thinking hard on what exactly he should tell her and how, his voice was steady as he began to explain the ways of demons to a human.

"Inu Youkai rely heavy on our sense of smell. It helps us to tell who is pack, friend, foe, and lead us to our mates. We use others' scents to gage what they are feeling or planning."

InuYasha paused as he let her digest that information. A wicked smirk found its way to his lips as he prepared for her reaction at what he was about to say.

"Your scent just overloaded me. Being more in touch with my inu side as I am now, I'm more inclined to take action than to ask for an invitation. Your body wanted mine. I was more than happy to comply. Simple as that."

Well technically not as simple as that, but he wasn't about to go into the fact that his youkai had apparently claimed her as his mate. Still, he found great amusement in the color of red his wench turned. She was almost as crimson as the firerat suikan around her body. The point of a fang poked out as his smirk widened.

' _She truly is innocent...'_

Feeling his demon start to stir at that thought, he decided he would give her a break from him teasing. Not just for her sake but for his own. He didn't want a repeat of what happened earlier…

His demon growled at him for that thought. Well okay so his demon would love a redo of earlier, just with a slightly different ending. Hell, even he couldn't pretend that that wouldn't have been nice… He was still a male after all. Mortal men and youkai alike all seemed to have the same reaction when it came to that particular subject. If a female wanted to do the dirty with you, you didn't say no. Unless of course you already had a female of your own, and even then, he knew some males still didn't turn down an offer.

Desperately needing a change in subject, InuYasha thought back to his earlier musings before the wench had woken up.

"Where are you from?"

Kagome couldn't believe how brazen he was! While she could barely tip toe around the subject, he just dived right in. Her face was burning from how hotly she was blushing, and as his smirk grew she had to avert her eyes.

She knew he was purposely teasing her. Doing a 180 in making her feel so at peace to completely mortified. It wasn't just his teasing about her body's scent that got to her though, but the fact that he had just admitted to wanting to have sex with her.

Even more shameful was the fact that the idea didn't bother Kagome as much as she thought it should. They were strangers! How could she be ok with letting him do such a thing? As she remembered the feeling of his tongue all over her body from when he had been healing her, she couldn't help the playful thought that ran through her mind.

' _Oh yeah that's why…'_

With her mind on that particular subject, Kagome thought back on how she had panicked in the moment a few hours earlier. When InuYasha was preparing to take things to a whole other level, she hadn't felt she had a choice in the matter. If she really thought about it; that, and the fact that things had escalated too fast, were the only reasons she had panicked.

She had a sinking suspicion that if he took his time, she'd be putty in that gorgeous demons' claws… Which bothered her some because she never considered herself to be _that_ type of girl. But for some reason she felt unusually close to InuYasha and she was having a hard time resisting the pull she felt towards him.

Her face was only getting redder and redder with the direction her thoughts were taking her. So, she was definitely relieved when InuYasha asked his simple question. Although, she had to contemplate hard on how to give what should have been a simple answer.

"I don't think you would believe me if I told you."

Cocking a curious eyebrow at her, InuYasha's retort was short and sweet.

"Try me."

Taking a deep breath, Kagome focused hard on the walls of the cave in concentration. Finally feeling she had a place to start, she began to tell InuYasha how she came from a very different world. A place where monsters and demons only existed in stories. Mainly her grandpa's stories.

She told him how her family were the caretakers of a shrine for generations. That she had been helping her brother find their family cat when that centipede monster had appeared from nowhere. How she was drug down into the well with blue lights flashing all around her.

Pausing as she gave herself time to truly process what had happened to her, and her next words were almost a whisper.

"When I climbed out of the well… it was like I had stepped back in time."

She smiled sadly at reminding herself again how she had lost her family. Kagome then felt the need to explain why she had apologized earlier. Even when she wasn't sure what she had done to make him mad.

"The reason I apologized for earlier… You had looked so angry… I was afraid I had lost the only person who made me feel safe in this strange place…"

InuYasha had been listening intently to Kagome's tale. It was almost unbelievable to think a well could take one back in time… but he had certainly seen weirder things in his long-life span.

At least now he knew why the wench had jumped into a dry well. That would also explain her odd clothing.

As her demeanor grew sad, he was instantly on edge. His demon hated that his wench was in such a state and demanded that he fix it. Before he could act, however, her next words stilled him. Inwardly, his youkai soared at her confession that he made her feel safe. That's what mates were supposed to do after all.

A strong wave of protectiveness filled him and he found his hand reaching for her own. Gently taking hold of her left hand with his right, he gave it a small squeeze as he lifted their joined hands to his chest. Holding her hand to his heart, InuYasha captured her gaze when she glanced up in surprise.

He didn't speak immediately as he stared deep into her stormy-blues. He wanted her to see that the words he was preparing to convey to her were not hollow. That he meant every word.

As a result, his voice was low and serious when he finally spoke.

"I promise; you will never be alone here. I will protect you with my life."

When InuYasha had taken Kagome's hand in his own, she had thought at first that he was just offering her a kind gesture. Surprise grabbed her as she felt the warmth of his skin from his chest. Glancing up and seeing where he placed her hand over his heart, she knew he had something important to say.

As his eyes held hers captivated, she had the strangest feeling he was baring his soul to her. Allowing her to take residence there and make it her new home. The words he spoke to her only confirmed her thoughts.

Hearing his declaration so full of emotion brought tears to Kagome's eyes. She couldn't begin to explain the connection she felt with him. Every rational bone in her said she shouldn't feel this way. Yet when he said and did things like this… she lost herself in him.

Pushing herself into his chest with their joined hands trapped between their bodies, she tucked her head under his chin. She wanted to be as close as she could get to him, seeking the warmth he both literally and figuratively offer her. Unable to find the right words to relay how much his own meant to her, she found herself simply whispering 'thank you' over and over.

InuYasha was on cloud 9 from the reaction he received from his heartfelt words. His demon's lust didn't even stir as she pressed herself into him, content with having pleased his wench so. As he felt her lips brush his chest with her whispered thanks, his free arm pulled her into him tightly in an embrace. He sat there for a while holding her intimately. Content having her so close in his arms.

Feeling the small yawn she gave against his chest reminded him of how little sleep she had got. He knew she had slept on and off throughout the night, but not nearly enough for her body to properly finish healing. Pulling back slightly, he smirked at the sight of her half-closed eyes. It humbled him how deep her faith ran for him. A human willingly falling asleep in the arms of a demon? A rare sight indeed.

"You need sleep."

InuYasha spoke softly so as to not startle her in her half-asleep state. Having fully expected her to disentangle herself from him to lay on his kosode, he was stunned when she merely nodded against his chest and made no attempt at moving away from him.

He waited a moment more to see if she would move, but when she didn't budge he thought perhaps she was simply too tired to move herself. So, gathering her up, he went to separate them and place her on his kosode himself.

Her small tired voice and two petite arms wrapping around his neck stopped him.

"Hold me?"

Her sleepy request, so sweet and innocent, filled him with a happy humming energy. He knew he couldn't deny her, and was just thankful for the fact that his demon seemed to deem her rest more important than other activities.

Not bothering to reply, he laid over on his side with his arms snuggly around her. With her tucked into him like she was, InuYasha found he had never been more at peace. Especially while in his mostly demon state.

It didn't take long for his wench to succumb completely to sleep. And while running his claws through her raven locks, he sighed contently as he felt his own eyes start to grow heavy.

Deciding he could use an hour or two of rest himself, he allowed his body to fully relax. Knowing he would wake before his sleeping beauty, he was already starting to plan what nourishments he would wake her to as sleep finally claimed him.

* * *

A few hours later Kagome slowly became aware of the world around her as she drifted up from her unconscious mind. The first thing she noticed was the lack of warm arms around her. Raising up, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she looked around the empty cave.

She briefly wondered where InuYasha had wondered off too, but didn't put too much thought into as she felt the sudden call of nature grab at her. Since she still felt a little woozy from all the strain her body had been through, she took her time pushing herself up off the ground; wanting to avoid falling again.

Careful not to put any weight on her swollen ankle, she turned herself so that her back was to the opening of the cave. She needed to tie the sleeves to InuYasha's red suikan around her to give her some coverage. And Kagome really didn't want to have her chest front and center should he walk in while she was adjusting the material around herself.

Maintaining her balance was difficult, she had to put all her weight on one leg while reaching back around herself to tie the long red sleeves together at her back. Unable to stop weaving back and forth, she thought at one point she may fall.

The warmth of two large hands on her shoulders steadying her brought a smile to her face. The deep taunting words that reached her, however, replaced her smile with a sigh of slight annoyance.

"Didn't you learn your lesson the first-time wench?"

Turning to be face to face with her demon protector, a task much easier now with his assistance, Kagome gave him a small playful glare of her own.

"I'm not helpless you know. Besides… I really have to pee and you weren't here."

InuYasha loved the spunk in his wench. Although, as he watched a small blush flush across her cheeks at her admittance of needing to empty her bladder, he found it odd that she would be embarrassed over such a thing. Cute, but still odd.

Without a word he scooped her up in his arms and headed outside. A small smile touched him as he felt her hide her face in his hair as he carried her into the bright light of day. Her eyes were probably still sensitive from having just woke up and being inside a dimly lit cave.

Effortlessly he leaped over to a secluded area that would offer privacy for her to do her morning business. Setting her gently on her feet and he steadied her with his clawed hands on her waist, allowing her time to be sure of her footing.

He had to fight back his demon's possessive urges when she didn't bat him away for touching her so intimately.

His attention was pulled back to her as she turned her face up towards his to give him an appreciative smile. When she murmured a small 'thank you' his reply was an indifferent 'keh'.

Content to be able to continue holding her waist, he was happy to let silence settle down around them as they both just stood staring at one another. Comfortable with their proximity, his clawed fingers even started to move slightly up and down over her hips.

InuYasha felt as she started to get a little antsy. And as her blush grew more and she let out a little unsure 'um' he couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease her. Lifting a brow at her, he spoke with his voice serious as he could make it.

"Didn't you need to pee?"

He couldn't stop the gratifying smirk as her blush grew hotter and she sputtered her words at him.

"I'm not…. I'm not going with you watching! What's wrong with you?! Go away! Shoo!"

His amusement only grew when at the end of her embarrassed rant the wench had started smacking at him and waving him off. A low chuckle left him as he turned and bounded off somewhere out of sight.

Kagome waited a moment listening for any signs that her pain-in-the-butt protector was still in the immediate area. She knew he was teasing her, but that didn't stop her mild embarrassment. Thinking all was clear, she found a place to do her business and was just about to squat down when his voice startled her; calling out to her 'don't fall' from somewhere unseen. She squinted her eyes in annoyance and mumbled out loud about 'pesky dogs'.

Once she was done, she started to hobble in the direction that she had seen InuYasha disappear in. She didn't even make it two steps before he reappeared in front of her, smirk still in place.

"Pesky dog taking care of your weak human ass."

Kagome smiled genuinely at him as he gathered her up in his arms once more. Reaching up, she tweaked one of his adorable ears.

"And I can't thank you enough."

InuYasha's demon stirred as her soft fingers made contact with his canine ears. He was quickly learning, that there apparently was a direct link from his ears to his dick. Somehow, without knowing it, the wench knew just where the switch was. Pulling his head back just enough to make the wench release her hold on his fuzzy appendage, his face was set in a scowl. It was quickly getting annoying having to fight down his demonic urges with her. He found himself constantly reminding his demon half that she was human and didn't understand.

Walking forward at a leisurely pace he was in no hurry as he carried his delicate cargo back in the direction of the cave. The meat he was cooking shouldn't be done for a while, but he still gave a small sniff to make sure it wasn't burning. Deciding it was good for a bit longer, he made a detour towards the nearby river.

Kagome was silent in InuYasha's arms, simply taking in all the beauty the forest had to offer. Without all the noise and pollution of her time, the forest really was a scene from a fairytale. Glancing up at her protectors' cute doggy ears, she held back a giggle.

' _Complete with fairytale creatures.'_

Gradually the sound of water started to reach her ears and caused her to smile. After the crazy day she had had yesterday she could really use a bath! She grew even more excited when she finally caught sight of the slow running water. Neither she nor InuYasha, to her knowledge, had any soap but just to rinse all of the dried blood and mud off of her would be amazing!

As InuYasha walked right up to the water's edge she started to get a little worried he planned on just walking them both out into the water's current clothes and all. However, as he sat her down, allowing her ankles to dip into the water her worry was put to rest. She winced some as the cold water engulfed her swollen ankle, an odd combination of both stinging and making her abused flesh feel better.

"Thought your ankle could use a cold soak for the swelling."

InuYasha's deep voice caused her to smile up at him and gazing up into amber-red eyes, Kagome was once again mesmerized with how gentle they were. At first glance, they appeared to be evil and demonic. Which given InuYasha's blood she supposed they came by demonic naturally.

To her though, they were the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. Especially on the rare occasions that she had seen them in their natural state shining a pure golden honey…

"Thank you InuYasha"

InuYasha nodded as he turned to go check on the meal he was preparing for his wench. His demon extremely pleased with how well he was providing for her.

"Let it soak a while longer, I'll be right back."

Before he could leap off into the trees, however, Kagome's voice stopped him. Her words causing his demon's pleased state to sour.

"Take your time please! I would really like to wash up while you're gone."

Kagome was confused when InuYasha turned back to her with a stern look on his face, his once content mood gone without a trace. His commanding voice further puzzling her, but also causing her own mood to go south.

"No."

At his command, she tried to stay collected as her temper spiked slightly with indignation. Because surely, he wasn't trying to boss her around in such a way? Wanting to give him the benefit of a doubt, she _nicely_ pushed the issue further.

"No? Why 'no'?"

InuYasha's demon didn't like how his wench was talking back to him and questioning his decision. He was alpha and he was watching out for her best interest. Didn't she realize that by now? Apparently not since he had to explain himself to her.

"That water's too cold. You'll get sick if you fully emerge yourself in it."

Having thought that explaining his reasoning would be a sufficient answer, he was taken back when she still pressed the matter.

"I won't get sick. Besides I need to wash all this gunk off!"

Amber-red eyes narrowing at her persistence, InuYasha turned completely to tower over his wench and assert his dominance. Arms crossed over his bare chest he looked down at her with authority and dropped his voice a level.

"I said no."

Taking in his authoritative posture, Kagome didn't back down. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she was playing with fire, but the independent side of her trampled that thought down. She tried to keep in mind that he was trying to be sweet and look after her, he was just going about it all the wrong way.

"InuYasha I appreciate everything you have done for me. I really do. But you are **not** the boss of me."

Brows scrunching together, InuYasha's demon really didn't like his wench challenging his authority. Staring down at her, however, he couldn't deny how damn cute she looked trying to match him glare for glare.

Looking pass her scowl he focused on the unhealthy shade of pale her skin still was and the ugly bruise on her face that stood as a reminder of what all her body had been through. Slowly, his glare morphed into a dark mischief smirk as an idea came to him. When he spoke this time, his tone was calm and calculated.

"Alright. You want to get yourself sick bathing with cold water? Fine."

He paused for a moment, purposely letting his wench think she had won their little spat. And as her face started to relax and the beginning of a smile reached her lips, he hit her with his ultimatum.

"But… you have to eat more liver tonight wench."

InuYasha took deep satisfaction out of her reaction to hearing his words. He was full of smugness as he watched her face express how disgusting the idea was to her. It was a win-win for him. Either the wench would take the deal; bath in the cold water, but get much needed iron from eating liver. Or in order to avoid eating the iron rich organ, she would skip bathing in cold water where she would be running the risk of getting sick.

As she scowled back up at him, clearly not liking her options, his grin just continued to get wider. To the point of one of his sharp fangs even stuck out to mock her.

"Well?"

Kagome sighed. She knew InuYasha was only looking out for her best interests, but still… did he have to be so dominate in the way he handled things? She decided that she could compromise. She really didn't wish to see which of them could be more stubborn, because she had a feeling there would be no winners in that match. When she responded to him, her voice was dripping in annoyance.

"Fine… I'll eat your nasty liver… but you have to cook it this time!"

InuYasha's demon was content with this. He still didn't like her taking a dip in the cold water with fall so close in the air. But he figured he could just rush her back to the cave to dry out next to the fire.

Sniffing the air, he was greeted with the wonderful aroma of cooked meat filling his nose. Smirking down at his wench, he yelled out to her as he bounded off.

"Better hurry! Or else I might come back to see something you don't want."

The startled 'eep' he heard leave her from behind him had his smirk widening into a full-blown smile. He figured threatening the wench with him possibly seeing her completely nude would help speed her up.

Kagome rushed to disrobe and emerge herself in the cold water. She thought InuYasha was only teasing her again, but she really didn't want to test him. Bracing herself for the cold, she ducked her head under and began to vigorously rub her skin all over. Well except for her swollen ankle and the right side of her face which was still sore from the nasty bruise she had been given. Those two areas she was a little gentler with.

Coming up for a quick gulp of air, she went back under to give her hair the same rough treatment. The entire time she couldn't help but to wish she had soap. Feeling she was as clean as she was going to get without any, she broke to the surface once more.

Wading over to where she had left her clothes, she quickly grabbed her bra and panties to give them a quick scrub as well. Satisfied when she felt that they were both remotely clean, she went to reach for InuYasha's suikan to have ready to wrap around herself as soon as she got out.

When she didn't see it anywhere, Kagome looked around baffled. She was just fixing to stand to get out of the frigid water and continue her search, when InuYasha's voice reached her ears. Quickly she sank back into the water neck deep at hearing his deep voice taunting her from the trees above.

"Are you trying to drown yourself wench?"

Arms covering her chest she glared up at his smirking face, her own on fire from embarrassment. She found herself mentally cursing him and more than slightly wishing she had something to throw at him.

' _Damn his demonic speed!'_

Before she could open her mouth to yell at him though, he was directly in front of her. Sweetly holding out his suikan with it opened so she could quickly get wrapped up inside its warm. Kagome didn't move from her spot, however, eyeing his smirking face suspiciously. She watched as he rolled his eyes only to shut them and turn his head away.

Figuring that was the best she was going to get in preserving her modesty, she shot up out of the water as fast as she could with her injured ankle. Running into his warm suikan, she couldn't help but to smile as his arms immediately wrapped her up in it.

Pushing her arms through the slits at the top, she took comfort in feeling InuYasha tie the sleeves at her back. It was amazing how he was so doting with her, yet such a pain at the same time. She figured it was his own special talent.

Once he had finished tying the sleeves at her back and she was significantly "dressed", she bent down to gather her wet under garments. She thought she heard InuYasha let out a growl, but after standing she didn't hear anything else so she didn't give it too much thought. Besides that, she was starting to get pretty cold and was absolutely ready to return back to the cave where a warm fire was waiting for her. Turning to give him a small smile and ask that they head back, she was hardly able to accomplish such a simple task as she started to shiver.

InuYasha barely caught the growl that left him when his wench had bent over. Until this point, he truly hadn't seen anything to cause his demon to stir. He just couldn't resist making the wench think he had. Yet when she bent over, her ass presented him, he felt the stirrings of his demons' carnal lust.

So, when his wench turned to him shivering, he gave mental sigh of relief that his demons' protective nature for her over ruled his lust. Swiftly scooping her up in his arms, he had her back to their cave in no time.

He sat with her on his lap as close to the fire as he could get. With his hands rubbing up and down her arms rapidly trying to assist the fire in warming her. Thinking back to his earlier concern, he gently scolded her.

"You better not get sick wench."

Kagome leaned her wet head against his chest, content and comfortable with the warmth she was receiving. She smiled when InuYasha 'scolded' her, truly touched by how much he seemed to care.

"I won't."

Slowing his movements down to a stop once he felt she was warmed up, InuYasha simply held her for a moment. He had more that he needed to get done today; he needed to replace the furs for their bedding, start gathering up needed supplies, and bring in more firewood from his slaughter trees.

Yet he couldn't pull himself away from the moment he found himself in with his wench. It was indeed remarkable how she could calm his inner demon so easily and at the same time set him on edge.

Hearing the small growl her stomach gave pulled him from his thoughts. And remembering the agreement that he had trapped her into, he smirked. His wench needed to eat… and he already had the perfect meal cooked for her.

Delighting in teasing her, his voice was smooth as he broke the mood and he took extreme pleasure in reminding her of what she had agreed too.

"Now… about that deal."


	6. Chapter 6

**UPDATED**

Demon Nature

Chapter Six

Kagome groaned as she disentangled her hair from a rogue branch. She was starting to get annoyed. She had no clue where she was and her feet were cold. Her eyes narrowed as she couldn't help but to think how she wouldn't be in this mess if InuYasha hadn't been acting so odd.

Finally freeing herself from the branches clutches, she started walking again in her chosen direction. Soon her mind had blocked out her surrounding as she thought back on everything that had happened since she came to this place.

It had been a good two weeks since she found herself thrust back in time into this magical version of Japan. The first week had been interesting to say the least. As she was learning more and more about her dog-boy savoir, Kagome quickly realized a few things.

One, InuYasha was very adamant in keeping her safe. To the point that he would even get upset with her if she did something that could cause herself harm or bring about sickness. He had absolutely refused to let her walk anywhere for the first few days. Always persisting that he carry her around until her ankle had healed enough that she could put some weight on it.

After their first disagreement over her bathing, he had shown up with a large pot and rags. She had not asked where he found the items, honestly, she didn't think she wanted to know. Kagome was just happy that she had warm water to wash up with, since he insisted on her using the pot to heat some water in instead of dipping into the cold river.

The second thing that was apparent with InuYasha was his dominant nature. That wasn't to say she was bossed around day in and day out. More like he expected her to listen if he told her to do something in regard to something he deemed import.

Like when a random demon would attack while they were out of the cave, if he said hide and wait for him, he meant it. The one time she hadn't, too fascinated in watching how graceful yet deadly he moved, InuYasha had been very upset with her.

His voice had deepened and he had towered over her while he had reprimanded her. Telling her firmly that when he told her to hide he expected her to listen. Asking her sarcastically how she expected him to protect her weak human ass if she wouldn't follow his instruction?

Kagome was never afraid of him though; she knew at the very base of it all InuYasha was simply diligent in caring for her. He had promised to keep her safe. To know he truly meant that promise, filled her heart with emotions so strong they scared her.

Despite his dominant side, InuYasha seemed to actually enjoy the times she would argue with him over piddly things. Sometimes she would swear he would pick at her just to get a rise out of her. What was worse was the fact that she was pretty sure he LET her win their small arguments.

He drove her crazy! That smirk of his always in place when he would tease her. How he would cock his eyebrow at her whenever even she knew she had a lame argument. The dark chuckle he would let out whenever he had succeeded in embarrassing her or getting her flustered…

Kagome bit her lip at those thoughts. If she were truthful with herself, she would admit that InuYasha did scare her on some level. How deeply she felt for him in such a short time, and how everything about him sent her heart racing. It scared her. She had never been in love before, so she had nothing to compare her feelings to. But every time his crimson-honey eyes held her steel-blues… She lost herself in him. Was this love? Or was she merely lusting after the gorgeous demon?

She definitely got her fill of his lean body. For the first few days he had walked around shirtless. Having allowed her to use his red suikan as a dress of sorts, and letting her use his off-white kosode as a sheet, had left him sans shirt. However, once he had replaced the dusty old furs with soft clean ones, he had started wearing his kosode again. Kagome had been a little disappointed by that, but she couldn't blame the guy. The days were starting to gradually get cooler and cooler.

Which was exactly why she was out roaming the forest in search of her lost shoes. With the ground gradually getting colder, she really didn't want to continue walking around bare foot. She had asked InuYasha earlier in the day if he had known what happened to them. All she had received was a short 'You didn't have any when I found you' before he promptly disappeared again.

Kagome sighed. With the first week being so wonderful, these last few days of their second week together left her completely confused. InuYasha had slowly started distancing himself from her. Only speaking to her when he had to, only showing up to give her meat to cook, to quickly help her down the mountain side in the morning and back up to the cave at dusk.

She didn't know where he disappeared to, but she never felt that he left her completely alone. Kagome had no clue why he was acting so strangely. Adding more mystery to the puzzle; she had started to notice it took much longer for his jagged purple markings on his face to disappear around her.

Normally once he neared her his blue irises would already be fading back to gold. The purple markings would be completely gone by the time he reached her. For the last three days, it took several minutes in her presence before the markings would start to fade…

' _That is if he even stays around me that long…'_

Almost tripping over a branch being so lost in thought, Kagome shook her head to clear her inner turmoil. She didn't need to be focused on InuYasha and his strange behavior. She needed to focus on trying to find her way back to the well to find her shoes.

Still she couldn't stop the ache in her heart she felt at his absence. While he hadn't held her in her sleep since that first day, she had grown use to him being close. He was always either sitting at the fire or laid back just out of arms reach next to her on the furs. And even though he didn't hold her in her sleep, there were a few occasions when he still did. Like the few times he had returned to their cave to find her crying over losing her family. He always held her then.

Overnight it seemed to have all changed. Kagome wasn't sure how you could miss someone who you were around on a daily basis, but she did. She missed how close they had seemed to have been getting and the affection he had showed her. She only hoped that whatever was causing InuYasha to act so distant, would quickly go away.

* * *

InuYasha groaned hearing his wench trample further into the forest. He had no clue where she thought she was going. But he wasn't about to approach her to ask either. His demonic energy was too close to consuming him, and he didn't dare let himself near her.

Even now he stayed only within ear shot. He wouldn't allow himself close enough to catch her scent. Which was a problem in itself, causing his demon to rise that much more. The animalistic nature of his demon distressed at not being able to smell his chosen's scent.

It only set his beast even more on edge hearing the racket she was making fumbling around the woods. It was enough to alert every demon out there to her presence. His demon demanded he go to her, it tried to reason with him that he needed to be close to properly protect her.

InuYasha's body strained to keep himself in place and not go speeding off after his wench. He was already having a difficult time controlling his beast in the small amounts of time he had had to be close to her. He didn't want to test the limits of his self-control, especially on this night.

He knew he had probably confused the poor girl to no end. The 180 he had done overnight was definitely strange and unprompted from an outside view point. Yet having woken up one morning feeling his demon blood practically screaming at him to take her, he had had no choice.

InuYasha had cursed himself for losing track of the lunar cycle. When he had finally realized how large the moon was getting, it was only a few short nights until it would be at its fullest. That coupled with the dark pull of the tainted jewel, was calling his demon nature forward stronger than ever.

Under normal circumstances the full moon was a rough night on him. The night the spherical heavenly being was the largest in the sky was rough on all demons. He supposed its' pull was strong enough to effect humans as well, but only ever causing them restless nights.

Demons on the other hand, their blood boiled under the full moons strong pull. All species had their own ways with dealing with the consuming energy coursing through their veins. Most lower level demons went on a killing spree, attacks on villages much more likely on that night.

Higher functioning demons, like himself however, either found a demon of equal strength to fight the night away with… or the much more pleasing option. Find a willing partner to fuck into oblivion.

InuYasha had done both. Given his choice, he normally leaned toward beating the shit out of some cocky ass male. Which almost always ended up being his brother. At least the ass was good for something.

However, there had been a time or two the opportunity to lay with a female had presented itself. Despite his half demon heritage, a full fledge demon female wasn't picky when the pull of the moon had hold of her blood.

Not to mention his demon rose to the point of almost taking full control of him, giving any demon female a run for her money. Even being only half demon, he had proved to be stronger and always the more dominant one out of the few couplings he had taken part in.

Demon rutting's, particularly ones during the night of a full moon, were more violent than when humans 'hooked up'. Both parties normally walked away from the encounter scratched up and slightly bloody. Yet always very satisfied.

InuYasha remembered one female who had actually left him a little worse for wear. She had been a neko youkai, and his back had taken its time healing after his encounter with her. The female cat demon hadn't walked away without her fair share of battle wounds though.

Normally, when the dreaded night was over, both parties went their merry ways. Neither speaking as they had both gotten the release they had come for. However, the morning after having been with his first neko InuYasha remembered the vixen had practically purred to him that they simply must do that again sometime.

He was almost tempted to seek her out on this night. If the neko vixen hadn't been mated yet, he had no problems with unleashing his demonic lusts on her. She could take care of herself… unlike a certain fragile human female he pinned over.

Sinking his claws into the bark of the branch of the tree he was sitting on, InuYasha sighed squeezing his eyes shut. He knew his nights of waring out his demon blood in the company of strange females were over. His demon had found his mate. Although, he hadn't allowed himself to properly claim her, he would never venture from her. Inu's were extremely loyal and territorial of their chosen's once and if they found them.

It didn't matter that she was human, all that meant was he would have to watch himself with her when he finally did bed the wench. Before any of that though he would have to take his time with her. Allow her time to understand the nature of his kind.

He already suspected that she may have some feelings for him. Despite her human body, she seemed to feel the same pull he did. Drawing them both closer in the short amount of time they had known one another. Hell, they even acted like a mated pair at times…

All the benefits of his patience would be ruined, however, if he let himself near her tonight. No matter how hotly his demon blood boiled, or how loudly it snarled at him. He would not allow himself to go to her. He wouldn't trust his demon with her on a normal full moon, let alone one where he had the extra dark power of the jewel flowing into him.

Opening his indigo and scarlet eyes, InuYasha didn't need his sight to know how close to night it was. The pull of the full moon was already setting his blood ablaze. The effect only that much worse with the dark gem pulsing its tainted magic into him from its spot hidden inside his pocket.

Ears twitching, he listened intently for any sign of the wench. She should have been heading back by now given how dusky it had gotten. When his canine ears couldn't pick up any trace of her he panicked somewhat.

His demon was incensed at him for having allowed her to wonder so far out of his hearing distance. Leaping to his feet, he took off in the direction she had been headed. He tried to calm his demon by telling himself that she had probably only gotten lost…

The sound of her frightened screams as she called out for him filled him with dread. His demon took over completely, breaking free of the small amount of control he had fought so hard to hold on to. Glowing crimson eyes lit up the ever-darkening forest as he raced to find her. His long fangs extended in a viscous snarl as he caught the scent of her blood.

Gods help whoever was foolish enough to harm his mate…

* * *

Kagome let out an exhausted sigh. She was truly lost by this point. Having wondered so far out into the forest, she honestly didn't know which way would take her back to the cave. It didn't help that it was getting dark quick.

Soon the only light she would have to see by would be the light of the moon. She took a small comfort in that fact. At least the moon would be full tonight, so it would give her more light to see by. That was a plus for her right?

As she looked around trying to decide which way to head to get back to their cozy cave, Kagome had to wonder where InuYasha was. It was so unlike him to go this long without at least checking on her. Not to mention he never passed up an opportunity to tease her about her inferior survival skills.

She didn't mind his teasing, truthfully, she thought it was just his way of reminding her that he took good care of her. When he would come saving the day, be it by starting the fire or catching dinner, he would always say something along the lines of 'See wench, now what would you do without me?' To which she would always praise him for how well he cared for her.

It was a cute little routine they had quickly fallen into. She blushed lightly thinking the act reminded her of what couples would do. She certainly didn't mind the thought of her and InuYasha being a couple at all.

Tripping over a large root, Kagome was jerked from her thoughts as she came crashing down on the cold ground. Hard. She lay there for a moment sucking for her breathe and debating on if she should just put her pride aside, give up and call for InuYasha.

With how he had been acting, she really hadn't wanted to bother him. Given his strange mood, she figured he would be more pissed than lightly scolding of her getting lost. And she really didn't want to have to deal with a pissed dog demon after the failed day she had had.

Deciding to tough it out for a while more, Kagome was pushing herself up off the ground when three dark voices stopped her cold.

"What do we have here?"

"A little human female lost its way hehehe."

"How unfortunate for her..."

Ice cold fear running through her body, Kagome had to force herself to slowly turn her head to look over her shoulder. Taking in the three large hideous demons lurking behind her, her breathe caught in her lungs.

They all three seemed to be of the same species, just differing in size. The largest of them had hideous yellow eyes and what appeared to be tusks sticking up out of his lower jaws. His skin was a nasty purple color, looking almost rotted and bruised.

The other two were practically mini versions of him, except the skin of one was red and the skin of the other was green. Their tusks weren't as large either. The three of them put her in mind of orcs…

Slowly standing, not liking the helpless feeling that consumed her with her back to the beasts, Kagome turned to face them. Fear gripped her tighter at realizing that standing did nothing to help how far their large forms loomed over her.

"Wha… what do you want."

She cringed when they all three proceeded to laugh darkly and mock her shaken words. Trying hard not to show how truly terrified she was, she concentrated on buying time. InuYasha would come to save her, she just knew he would.

"What do we want?! _Hahaha_!"

"This human bitch doesn't know what night she has gotten lost on."

"How fortunate for us…"

Trying to slowly ease herself backwards, to put more distance between herself and the large ugly beast, Kagome kept her eyes trained on them. She didn't like where she thought this was leading, but InuYasha would be here soon. She just had to be brave until he came for her.

"Who goes first?"

"I vote smallest too largest. That way she's nice and tight for us all."

"What an excellent idea."

Her heart sank into her stomach at their words, their intentions with her now made very clear. Panicking, she turned to run before they could catch her and use her as their play thing. She didn't make it far, however, as they all three rushed after her. The larger one catching her left leg with his claws.

As she fell to her hands and knees, she thought for the first time InuYasha wouldn't make it in time to save her. Feeling as her own blood oozed down her leg, she frantically tried to crawl away from the nasty orcs.

Kagome let out a startled cry as one grabbed her injured leg and started dragging her back towards them. Tears filling her eyes, she looked back to see two of them already adjusting their pants… Terror consumed her being as she screamed out desperately for her protector.

" _ **InuYaaashaaa**_!"

* * *

His demon seethed at seeing another with its nasty claws on what was his. Silently, he shot from the dark his claws razor sharp as he decapitated the hideous large beast who dared touch what was his. Cracking his bloody knuckles, he smiled darkly at the remaining two orcs. His fangs gleaming from the light of the moon, the promise of death in his eyes. A distorted deep dark voice taunted his prey.

"Didn't your mother teach you not to take what didn't belong to you."

The smaller orcs only bared their own pointed teeth at him in challenge. There were after all two of them and only one of him. And he no longer had the element of surprise in his favor. The more talkative of the two screamed out at him.

"She has no claim on her mutt! The human bitch is fair game!"

His crimson-cobalt eyes narrowed. The beast he had become knowing their words were true, yet condemning them for having had the audacity to speak them. Holding his claws up he flexed them slowly, purposely showing off the blood of their fallen comrade that coated his talons.

He addressed them once more, his demon blood practically singing from the slaughter that was about to take place by his hands.

"Your death will not be quick."

With that InuYasha's demon ascended on the nasty beasts. Claws ripping apart their vile flesh, he only laughed darkly at their screams. Lost completely to the full moon, his demon blood sang loudly in his ears. He relished in his victims' blood and the dark flow of energy he felt pumping into him from his prized jewel.

These demon scum would learn their lesson well before he allowed them to die. He would make sure they were sorry for having ever crossed him. And maybe in their next lives they would know better than to touch what belonged to an inu youkai.

As their screams died down, he was left holding the head of the smaller of the two in his bloodied claws. Bringing the severed head closer to his own, he stared into its lifeless eyes. Wishing to mock the dead vermin further, he darkly spat out his joy from their deaths.

"I enjoyed that."

His fanged dark smile dissipated some as his ears took in the sound of a small frightened gasp. Turning his head, his demonic eyes found his wench staring at him with large scared eyes.

Dropping the head, he turned his body to face her. He didn't move toward her, only took her appearance in. She lay on her stomach, her upper body slightly raised up off the ground. Her head and shoulders were strained to face him.

He continued to watch as she seemed to calm some. When he didn't move a muscle toward her, she eventually started to gather herself. His crimson eyes took in every little move she made as she turned to lift herself off the ground. The moment she was on her hands and knees, ass presented to him, he pounced.

His demon crazed mind couldn't take it anymore. The scent of her blood a thick ache in his lungs driving him mad. The words of the orcs echoing around in his head adding fuel to the flame. What they had said was true. She was unclaimed. An unclaimed female was fair game in demon laws. An unclaimed female was unsafe...

Not after tonight. After tonight his demon swore no other youkai would come near her. His scent would ooze from her pores; he would make sure of it. The claim he would put on her would be so strong none would dare challenge him.

He vaguely heard the wench call his name in a questioning tone as he grabbed her hips roughly. Her voice a mixture of curiosity and a spike of fright. He paid her no mind as he jacked her hips higher, forcing her upper body lower to the forest floor.

As he felt her body tense with unease, his demon vocals immediately let loose the mate call. Feeling as her body started to relax for him, he jerked the end of his red suikan up over her hips baring her ass. His eyes narrowed at seeing the white piece of cloth in his way. Without a thought his claws shredded the material from her, but the action caused the scent of her slight fear to spike again. This would not do.

Placing his knees between her own, he forced her legs open wider. The scent of her arousal was nowhere near where he needed it to be. Crimson eyes narrowed further as he brought his right hand up to his mouth. Without effort he bit the tip of his thick claw from his middle finger making it blunt.

Leaning over her small form, he reached around her waist blindly searching for her own hidden jewel he knew was there. He knew he had found it when her entire body stiffened only to jerk with the movement of his finger.

InuYasha's large fangs were prominent as he smiled in satisfaction. The throaty moans he pulled out of her music to his ears. He pressed more on her bundle of nerves with the pad of his middle finger, picking up his pace as he continued making small circles.

When the wench tried to speak again, he halted her words quickly by sinking his finger down into tight wet passage. They both groaned at that. He knew she had never been touched, but it just became that more apparent in how tight she was on his one finger.

Pumping said finger in and out of her a few times to spread her body's natural lubricant, InuYasha groaned deep. His own body was more than ready for her. His thick member strained painfully against the rough material of his hakama. He wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out, but he just needed to make sure her body was prepared for his.

Satisfied that she was good and wet, he reached back with his unoccupied hand too free himself. He smirked hearing the small whine his wench let out as he ceased his attentions on her. Bringing his hand to her hip in order to position himself with the other, he didn't allow her time to come to her senses as small pants huffed out of her.

Leaning over her body he growled possessively into her left ear. His claws sinking into the flesh of her hips as his low voice carried his permeant words.

"You're mine."

His hips snapped forward like a bullet. Taking from her, her innocence and starting the beginning of a long night as he claimed her for his own. No other would touch her, no other would claim her. She was _his_.

Kagome had been overjoyed when InuYasha had first shown up. Her savoir always arriving in time before something truly bad happened to her. The ferocity of him as he had dispatched the orcs had worried her however. She couldn't say she was afraid of him, she truly believed he would never harm her. There was just something off about him. A small gasp had left her at seeing and hearing how much he had enjoyed taking another life. Yet still she wasn't afraid of him, only afraid of what had just transpired.

When he had turned and stood staring at her hotly with scarlet-indigo eyes, she had taken that as her que to get up. She had taken her time getting up; mentally preparing herself for the tongue lashing she was sure she was about to receive for being so careless.

Surprise had filled her when she had felt his hands abruptly at her hips. When she had called his name curious as to why he was acting so odd, only to receive no answer other than his tightening grip, she felt a small twinge of fear.

It was in one swift move he had her ass jacked up and top half lying flat. As soon as Kagome found herself in the familiar position, she was reminded of night he had healed her. He had put her in this very same position, only to admit to her later that he had wanted her.

Unease filled her. That night he had torn himself away from her to disappear for hours. She somehow felt this night would be completely different. Still she wasn't afraid of him. Her unease came from her inexperience and the fact of where and how InuYasha clearly planned on doing this.

Before she had time to protest, however, his soothing growl filled the air. The purr relaxing her body whether she wanted it to or not. Her mind quickly grew hazy, and she barely noticed when he flipped the red fabric of his suikan over her hips.

She did notice when his claws tore away her only pair of panties, the cold night air stinging her back to herself somewhat. Genuinely not liking how this was taking place, and still unsure if she was even ready for such a thing, a small bit of fear still grabbed at her.

Kagome honestly didn't mind doing this with InuYasha, the thought _had_ crossed her mind a time or two… But did he have to do this here? Did he have to move so fast? Feeling his knees force herself open wider to him, doubt swam through her body. Was she even ready for this?!

She was jerked from her doubts as he started to intimately touch a very private part of her. Her body rapidly heated at his skilled touch, and in no time, she was putty in his fingers. Literally.

She felt she should be embarrassed with how her body reacted to his touch. He had almost complete control over her as he coaxed moan after moan from her throat. Almost. A small part of Kagome, a very small part, still couldn't help but to feel this was wrong.

Trying her best to speak to him, she frankly had no plans on stopping him at this point. She just wanted to request he take them home first. Maybe to go a little slower… But she lost the ability to form words completely as he pushed his talented finger up inside her.

Kagome lost all of her inner fight at that. Her body was buzzing, high from his purr. Consumed by his touch. She vaguely heard herself let out an involuntary whine when he stopped touching her from some unknown reason.

She was slowly starting to come back down to earth, when she felt his hot breath in her ear. His words were lost to her, however, not having the time to make them out before she was blindsided with a sharp shooting pain.

Hiding her face in the crook of her right arm, she cried out. It hurt! Her lower regions felt so full she thought she may burst. And InuYasha never slowed his pace either. He didn't allow her body to adjust like she had read in so many romantic novels.

If anything, his speed increased, riding her pain out until it slowly started to wind down to a pulsing burn. But she found herself releasing a deep groan as she felt his declawed finger find her hidden bundle of nerves once more. Her previously lost arousal building back up quickly as he worked his magic on her.

In no time she found herself panting for breath again. Sucking air quickly into her lungs, only to have him pound it back out of her. Her breathe leaving her in long throaty moans. She felt her inhabitations leave her as he brought her higher than before.

She was so close to something just out of reach. What or where, she didn't know. Kagome just somehow knew in her soul if she reached that unseen treasure, there was no going back. Yet that didn't stop her voice from pleading with InuYasha, wanting so bad for him to take her there.

Kagome was reward as his paced increased even more at her pleas. The feel of his hot mouth on the junction between her neck and left shoulder sending little thrills throughout her body. She honestly didn't know when he had exposed that part of her flesh. But she didn't give a damn either as she felt his fangs nip at her skin there.

In the blink of an eye her high came crashing down. Her body completely awash with the flood of pleasure that flowed through her. Thinking no other experience could compare, she was proven so wrong when InuYasha sank his long fangs into her flesh at the base of her neck.

As InuYasha stiffened above her, she felt the hot wet pulses from inside of her at his own release. That feeling coupled with the accelerating feel of his deadly fangs buried deep in the base of her neck sent her over the edge a second time. She felt completely consumed by him. There was no him, there was no her, there was only their joined souls.

She barely had time to recover before InuYasha was pounding into her once more. His fangs never leaving their spot from inside her. Before she lost her senses to his demanding touch again, and Kagome could have sworn she _felt_ InuYasha's own pleasure.

InuYasha didn't slow his pace after entering his wench. His demon was far too anxious to finally finish claiming her. Still he didn't completely ignore her cries of distress. Reaching around her a second time to give her a helping hand, he vigorously played with her tiny bud of nerves.

His satisfied smirk wouldn't leave him as it became clear when her pain had started ebbing away to be replaced by something else entirely. InuYasha increased his attentions on her, needing to bring her higher much quicker. He had to time this perfectly.

If he had simply wanted to mark her as his property, he wouldn't have had to go through so much effort. He could have just found his own pleasure and been done with it. No, he had a much more deep and meaningful mark in mind.

"Inu… Yasha… plea… _**please**_."

His demon grew smug as her broken pleas fueled him further. At this point his male ego was swollen, both figuratively and literarily, at his ability to make her beg him for completion. He rewarded her by doubling his efforts.

Feeling the tell-tell signs of her pending release as her body grew taunt under him, InuYasha quickly jerked the collar of his red suikan aside. Revealing the flesh of her neck and shoulder on her left side. He couldn't resist licking, sucking, and biting at the exposed flesh. And his fangs tingled in anticipation as he located the spot he would mark. Giving her skin a loving nip, he couldn't wait to place his mark on her. Right above her heart, where he belonged.

As soon as he felt her inner walls clench around him, he sank deeply into her from both ends. Both his fangs and his cock going as deep as he could get inside her petite body. His eyes rolled back in his head as he groaned, his body in pleasure overload.

His demon soared when he felt his connection to her open. Her pleasure becoming his own. And InuYasha was filled with renewed energy, feeling greatly pleased to know his mark had taken so strongly. He almost felt bad for his mate as he forced her back on the roll coaster. She was exhausted, he could tell. Yet his body's excitement gave hers' no choice but to comply as he started their dance over several more times.

He refused to release her from his fangs as he brought them both to completion again and again. Wanting to make their bond was as strong as he could get it. It wasn't until close to dawn, when the moons hold over his blood lifted, that he withdrew his shrinking fangs.

His mate passed out instantly as he released her from his jaws, her human body physically unable to go any further. InuYasha lapped at his mark gently to seal the two punctures his fangs had caused closed. And the small amount of her blood on his tongue slowly started to pull him back down to reality.

With his demonic blood no longer boiling over from the effects of the moon, Kagome's powers were once again strong enough to slightly purify the darkened jewel. As his blue irises turned gold, and his jagged purple markings faded, he was left with an overwhelming guilt.

Coming to his senses, he slowly pulled his softened member from her unconscious body. The smell of her blood coming from such an intimate location stabbed at his heart. Looking around at the bloody battle field he had taken her in he never hated himself more.

He was no better than the monsters he had slain to protect her. He was still covered in their blood for crying out loud! She didn't deserve this. This was exactly what he had wanted to avoid. Taking her innocence so harshly from her and in such a vile place as well.

For the first time he sincerely found himself not wanting the damn jewel. Having been in his demonic possession for so long, the jewels evil powers had grown. To the point that merely being in Kagome's presence couldn't purify it effectively anymore. Because of this tainted gem, he had lost himself completely to the full moon.

He had always wanted the jewels added strength, but now he wasn't sure he wanted the damn thing at all. If he had known this was the price he had to pay for the jewels power, then he would have thrown it in the oceans' depths.

The only solace he found was the fact the he couldn't smell fear coming from his mates' unconscious form. Judging by the scents still thick in the air, she had ended up enjoying some of what he done to her. Catching the scent of more of her blood, InuYasha glanced down to her leg.

He frowned to see she had shallow claw marks down one of her legs. Luckily it wasn't anything serious. Which was probably why his demon hadn't concerned himself with healing her immediately.

Sitting back from her, he pulled the material from his suikan back down over her ass to give her some coverage. His eyes sadly took in the small shivers that her body gave at losing his warmth. Quickly stuffing himself back into his pants, he gathered his beautiful priestess up into his arms.

Holding her close to his heart, he took off at a fast pace. Heading for the little cave they both called home to heal her yet again, only this time he had caused some of her wounds and most of the damage. His heart sank at that thought.

As he outran the sun itself, desperate to right his wrong, InuYasha prayed she would forgive him…


	7. Chapter 7

**UPDATED**

Demon Nature

Chapter Seven

InuYasha laid the petite unconscious form of his mate gently down on the soft furs of their bed. Tucking his red suikan tighter around her, he removed his white kosode to lay over her for extra warmth.

Gazing dejectedly at her peaceful face, he couldn't stop the hate that consumed him. What made it even worse was the fact he couldn't bring himself to want to take it back. He would absolutely have done things differently, but as far as undoing the claim he had placed on her?

He reached down to slide a strand of her raven hair from her porcelain face; absently noting that the bruise that had marred her right side was almost completely gone now. His heart swelled when she smiled softly in her sleep, murmuring his name. No, he decided he would never regret his claim on her. This beautiful human woman had him on a short leash and he didn't mind it one bit.

Reluctantly, he pulled himself away from her sleeping form to start a fire. The small rays of sunlight peeking into the cave provided a fair amount of light, he just wanted to be doubly sure his mate was warm.

Once he had a decent flame blazing, his golden-red eyes narrowed in disgust as he glanced down his own body. His clawed hands were still smudged with the blood of those damn orcs. And he had had the gall to touch something so pure with such taint?

Without a sound InuYasha fled the cave and headed straight for the river. He didn't even slow his pace or give himself time to dread the frigid water. Diving as deep as he could go, his red hakama clinging to his legs, he scrubbed violently at his skin. Not just wanting to clean his claws, but wanting to clean all of himself. Somehow hoping the cold waters could wash away his guilt.

When he finally emerged to step out on the river bank, his skin was a bright inflamed hue from the mistreatment he had given it. Yet he still didn't feel he was clean enough to be in her presence. Dropping down on all fours, he shook himself as hard as he could to quickly dry himself.

InuYasha decided his current state of cleanliness would have to do, not wanting to waste any time in getting back to his mate. He already never liked to leave her for long. The bond he had created only called him back to her that much more urgently. Not to mention she had some minor wounds he needed to take care of.

When he entered the cave, he was again concerned with how long it was still taking the jewel to purify even the slightest bit in Kagome's presence. He needed to fix this. His eyes locked on to his mates' still sleeping form and he grew sullen once more… All of this.

Taking a deep breath to try and calm himself, only succeeded in setting him even more on edge. The smell of her blood, while a small amount, was like acid in his lungs. He hated knowing she was hurt, hated even more knowing he had caused some of her injuries.

Walking over to crouch down next to her legs, he removed his kosode from her. He stared hard at his suikan, mentally preparing himself for what he had to do. Thankfully the injuries she had were slight in comparison to those from when he healed her that first time. Though he had yet to claim her then. If he thought his demon had given him trouble the first time he had tasted her blood… InuYasha shuddered. His demon could get the fuck over it. He was healing her body and nothing more.

Mind determined, he reached with shaky hands to pull open the crimson fabric of his suikan. He refused to let his eyes wonder over her body, only allowing them to travel to her small wounds.

He felt a pain in his chest as his eyes landed on the small crescent moon like cuts on her hips. Five on her left side and four on her right. He smiled bitterly, at least he had thought to rid himself of his claw before he had touched the delicate flesh of her womanhood.

As his eyes traveled lower to her left leg, he growled low at seeing the long shallow claw marks there. They started just above her knee and curved around to go down the back of her calf. The way they traveled down her, he could tell she had been running. He cursed himself more for not having gotten to her sooner.

Wanting to get this over with while his priestess still slept, InuYasha guessed her leg was as good of a place as any to start. Making his way down to her ankles, he carefully lifted her leg and crouched down low to begin.

As soon as his tongue touched the first mark on her leg, her blood shot through his senses like a wildfire. Urging him to heal her, to protect to her, to reinforce his claim on her.

InuYasha beat that last thought down violently. He would heal her and nothing more. Focusing on the claw mark he was currently healing, he slowly traveled up her leg following it and coating it with his saliva. Once the first mark had disappeared completely, he got to work on the remaining two.

Satisfied when her leg was completely healed, he begrudgingly crawled up between her legs to her hips. Eyes taking in the areas where he had sunk his own claws into her flesh, he damned his demon heritage. Even knowing he had not done so meaning to cause her harm, he had been lost to lust, he found no excuse for himself.

InuYasha took extra care with these marks. He gently healed these marks caused by his demon passion with long loving strokes. Giving each spot of her skin a small tender kiss once he had rid it of the mark his claws had left behind.

Once he was finished, he sat back and his eyes stared blankly down at the soft flesh of her skin above her most intimate of places. While it wasn't as strong now, he could still smell her blood there.

He had heard it was normal for females to bleed some during their first mating. To what extent he had no idea, since none of the females he'd been with before had been new to such activities. What worried him most was how roughly he had taken her. Had she bled simply because he was her first, and she would be fine? Or had he caused her serious damage that was in need of healing?

InuYasha sighed as he knew what he had to do. His demon was going to hate him for this. Yet, he would rather put himself through the inner torture he knew was sure to come, rather than chance that she might not be seriously hurt there.

' _Healing only, nothing more.'_

Laying himself flat on their bed of furs, he gently spread his sleeping mate's thighs. With her womanhood opened to him, his nose wrinkled as the smell of her blood grew a little stronger to him. His eyes were sad as he took in how swollen and red her delicate flesh was.

Not sure how far deeply her inner injury was and if he could even reach it with his tongue, he was quite proud of the idea he came up with. Lifting her with his hands each cupping an ass cheek, he angled her so that gravity would be on his side. Even if his tongue couldn't reach, as long as his saliva did then she would heal.

Glancing back up to his mate's face to make sure she was still sleeping, InuYasha smiled softly at seeing how peaceful she looked. His smile disappeared when he refocused on the task in front of him.

Stilling himself mentally, he leaned forward to give her nether regions an open-mouthed kiss of sorts. Sliding his tongue down her passage, he couldn't control the groan that left him. The taste of their combined juices mixed with her blood set his demon blood on fire.

The mixture of their tastes and in just knowing how intimately close his mouth was on her was almost too much for him. His demon begged him to lay with her; it was normal for newly mated pairs to spend days reinforcing their claims. The demon blood in him demanded he do just that and his dick sure wasn't helping any.

InuYasha shut them both up by grinding his pelvis hard at an awkward angle. He forced himself to concentrate on the small pain the action had caused. To focus on healing her. Squeezing his eyes shut tight, he tried to block the lustful thoughts out that kept plaguing him.

As he pushed his saliva coated tongue back into her, he paused hearing the slight hiss of pain that left her. Opening his eyes, he looked up her body only to be met with curious stormy eyes. He waited anxiously to see what her reaction was going to be. But when his miko did nothing but blush prettily and give him a shy smile, he took that as his cue to continue. He never broke her gaze as he dipped his tongue in and out of her a few more times with nothing lustful in the action. The only thing he wanted to convey to her how sorry he was for causing her this pain.

InuYasha watched her face forlornly as she grimaced a time or two, clearly still sore from his earlier claim on her. He was relieved when his actions started to seem that they were no longer causing discomfort. Taking one last sweep with his tongue, he was surprised when a completely different reaction left her.

Sensitive ears picked up the smallest of moans, just as his nose caught the scent of her arousal. Pulling his face back from her some, he stared up intensely at his mate trying to read her. When she blushed hotly realizing he knew what her body felt, he smiled wickedly.

Crimson-honey stare locked with steel blues, he leaned forward to give an experimental lick up her center. Observing as she bit her lower lip in vain to halt another involuntary moan, InuYasha made up his mind.

While he absolutely refused to grant himself any release, he couldn't help but to think she deserved a little pleasure. He didn't bother arguing with himself that the act of giving her pleasure gave him some as well. This was about her.

He had healed the damage he had caused, now it was time to make amends for it. Replace the pain he had caused with something much more satisfying. As his tongue started its' sensual dance over her intimate area, he never released her eyes.

InuYasha thoroughly enjoyed watching as lust swiftly heated her gaze. He soon found himself having to hold her in place, but not from her trying to escape his ministrations. Her hips jerked wildly as his tongue found her little bud of nerves. Airy moans left her as he pressed hard with his tongue while making small rapid circles.

He could tell when she was close. Her right hand clung tightly to the furs they laid on next to her head while her left tangled in his hair. Wincing some as one of his ears was caught in her grip, he still smirked against her, adoring her passion.

Doubling his efforts, it wasn't long before he was rewarded. When she came, her eyes squeezed shut, her breath caught, her back arched, and her grip in his hair tightened. InuYasha's greedy eyes took it all in.

Unwilling for it to be over, he didn't give her a reprieve or time for her body to touch back down to earth. No, he kept going, loving the way she sounded. Lost in the way her body moved for him. He was ravenous demon as he took her over the edge repetitively.

He only stopped when her thighs clamped together on his head. His ears picking up the small broken pleas from her, begging him to stop. At first, he was worried he had crossed a line, but when he could smell no fear coming from her he relaxed. Taking in the small quivers that ran through her body, and how she was panting for breath, InuYasha figured her body simply couldn't take anymore. That knowledge filled him with male pride.

Raising up to his knees, he purposely held her hooded gaze as he slowly wiped her juices from his mouth with his thumb. He smirked when the action caused her to blush hotly and advert her gaze.

Staring down at her, his heated gaze morphed as it landed on his mark at her neck. A woeful tenderness over took him knowing he had bound her to him without explaining anything to her or even asking her permission. Perhaps if he hadn't been so consumed by his demon…

Reminded of the growing tainted power of the jewel, InuYasha's face grew stern. Slowly he started to crawl up his mates' body on his hands and knees. Not allowing his body to touch hers.

Kagome was out of breath and her whole body was on fire. She hadn't been able to keep InuYasha's heated gaze after his little show. Her face was so hot from his teasing; how could he do such things so boldly? Although, given with what she had just let him do perhaps he was starting to rub off on her.

When she had first woken up to find InuYasha licking… certain places, she truthfully hadn't pictured things going this way. She could tell that he had been healing her. From how much better her leg felt and how much better she was starting to feel in the area he had currently had his tongue. Honestly, she had only been mildly embarrassed with having him touching her so intimately.

The dejection in his once again scarlet-gold eyes had erased any discomfort she had felt. She realized that he needed this more than she did. Kagome saw how torn up inside he was, and if allowing him to heal her would fix that? She could get past her mild embarrassment.

She had offered him a smile to reassure him, and it seemed to be the que he was waiting for. It wasn't long before the small burning sensation she had felt was gone. His healing touch working wonders. The only problem then had been how good it had started to feel. She had tried to keep herself quiet, but as he gave her one last lick with that hot tongue of his, the smallest of moans had escaped her.

Kagome hadn't been shocked to see his adorable dog ears twitch at the sound. She had figured out long ago that he did in fact have canine like hearing. Her complete embarrassment came, though, at seeing his nose twitch. She had blushed fiercely when she realized he could _smell_ her body's excitement.

If that hadn't made matters worse, the shit eating grin he gave her absolutely had her face hot. Yet she hadn't been able to tear her eyes away from his gaze as he had leaned towards her; anticipation overwhelming her. She had known she was in trouble the second his hot mouth descended on her.

She knew deep down all it would take was one word from her and he would stop, but she couldn't stop him. Frankly, she hadn't wanted to. InuYasha made her feel things she never had before. And she was too curious to explore these new feelings so she was perfectly fine with getting lost in him.

Smiling to herself at how lost she had got in him, Kagome was pulled back to reality at feeling him move. Her heart pounded hard when she realized he was starting to move up her body. She closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip, both nervous and excited for whatever he had planned next.

The soft pressure of his forehead touching hers was not what she was expecting. Before she could react, she next felt his left-hand travel up to intertwine with the fingers of her right hand. A cool smooth hard object pressed between their palms.

Kagome felt him pull his head back some, and she opened her eyes curiously to look up into his crimson-honey orbs. His gaze was so thick with emotion that her breath caught. She couldn't bring herself to tear away from his eyes, captivated by the intensity in them.

Her gaze only left his when she felt him start to release her hand. Turning her head to stare at their joined hands next to her face, she was filled with even more bewilderment when he removed his hand from hers completely. Left behind in her palm was the dark gem she hadn't seen since the first day she arrived.

She watched transfixed as the dark clouds inside the jewel swirled violently; the darkness slowly being replaced with a purifying light as she felt an energy leave herself to enter the gem. Watching as the dark jewel transformed into a beautiful translucent gem once more was truly an amazing sight.

Turning to face InuYasha seeking answers, Kagome was left in awe at what she saw. Pure golden-honey eyes held her stare now. And despite the sorrow that currently took up residence inside their depths, she loved those eyes.

She found herself lost in their amber depths as she marveled at their beauty. The connection she felt with InuYasha so strong in this moment that she wished to stay like this forever. Forever with this gorgeous demon who stole her heart.

"I'm so sorry Kagome…"

Kagome inhaled sharply, almost convinced she had imagined his words. His soft apology hadn't been what startled her; he had been trying so hard to convey the words to her without speaking since she had woken up. No, it was hearing her name spoken from him for the first time…and so lovingly.

Afraid of breaking the moment between them, but desperately wanting to hear him speak her name again, her own words were a breathy whisper.

"Say it again."

InuYasha's brow scrunched slightly confused at first by her request. But as he stared down into the hopeful eyes of his miko clarity found him. Smiling softy, he leaned down closer to her almost nose to nose. Intent on conveying all his heart to her, he poured it all in to speaking her name.

"Kagome…"

"InuYasha…"

Hearing his own name from her sent a warm sensation throughout his entire being. His eyes drifted to her full lips, taking in how they stayed slightly parted after whispering his name. He brought his gaze back to hers in time to catch her stare lingering on his own lips.

He didn't think as he closed the gap between them. His mouth coming down on hers in a soft caress for the first time. He kissed her long and slow, drawing out the electrifying feel of her against him. The longer he kissed her, the more lost in her he became.

Soon on its' own accord his body was formed against hers, his legs having laid flat without his noticing. InuYasha wanted more of her; he wanted to touch more, smell more, and taste more. It was with this thought that he ran his tongue against her lips silently asking permission to deepen the kiss.

As soon as she granted him access he was exploring her mouth. Coaxing her to explore him as well. And when he felt her tentatively run her tongue over one his fangs he almost lost it. His hand went back to hers in search of something to hold onto to keep him grounded. Not wishing to taint the jewel she held tightly in her grip he settled for holding on to her wrist.

He could have kissed her all day, but unfortunately the need to breath was becoming more urgent. There were also other areas of her delicate flesh he wished to kiss. Releasing her lips, he panted as he opened his eyes to take her in. He was so lost in her he couldn't even remember when he had closed them.

InuYasha was trying hard to slow down. Taking deep breathes trying to calm himself, he really didn't want to fuck up and go too far with her again. As he watched her open her stormy-greys to stare up at him, he was stunned when it was her lips that came crashing up on his.

Reason gave way to lust, and he soon found his kisses trailing down her neck. Jerking the collar of his red suikan of the way, he found his mark and ran his tongue teasingly over it. The long moan pulled from them both caused by the action set him on fire.

He pulled his mouth away from her and ducked his head trying to gain control over the desire that was consuming him. InuYasha was just about to pull himself away from her completely, afraid if things continued as they were he'd do something she wasn't ready for. But as he was summoning the will to distance himself from his beautiful priestess, he felt her hot mouth on the tip of one of his canine ears.

He lost his inner battle then. Nipping, kissing, sucking, licking his way down her he found his way to her breast. The flimsy white material covering her was gone instantly with the flick of his claw. Slicing effortlessly up the thin middle where it met between her perfect mounds.

Taking a taunt nipple into his mouth he teased each one of her pink tips with his tongue and fangs. Growling low as his miko responded in kind by torturing each of his ears with her mouth; InuYasha lost himself in pleasuring her.

As their passion grew, he gave love to every part of her. Often coming back up to visit his mark and her delicious mouth. Lips locked together once more, he found himself kicking out of his pants.

When he settled his hard arousal against her wet entrance, he shuddered. Raising up on his forearms above her, he panted as he sought her eyes. Digging deep to find some small amount of self-control, he refused to go no further until she told him it was what she wanted.

"Kagome."

He called her name breathlessly and waited patiently for her to open her eyes. Once her steel-blues finally fluttered open and he had captured them in his stare, InuYasha's tone became very serious, almost pleading.

"Kagome, I need to hear you say it."

Truthfully, he didn't care exactly what 'it' was. He just needed some form of confirmation from her that it was ok for him to proceed. That _she_ wanted him to go forward from this point.

A light blush dusted across her face, and he sighed when he felt the warmth of her empty hand on his cheek. Every nerve in him was strung tight, wanting so badly to be with her. He wouldn't blame her if she halted their actions, but he would definitely have to excuse himself.

Kagome was so lost in him she had barely comprehended when InuYasha was addressing her. She had been right it would seem; taking his time with her had indeed made her putty in his clawed hands. And she loved every minute of it.

When his words finally penetrated through her foggy mind, she found she loved him even more for them. She paused as that emotion set deep with her. Love? A man she had only known for two weeks, who had only a few short hours ago taken something precious from her without asking. Could she really say she loved him?

Staring up into his heated golden eyes, Kagome felt she was gazing right into his naked soul and that her own was bared naked to his gaze as well. She didn't question why she felt so closely drawn to him from the moment she first laid eyes on him. Instead all she found was the consuming need to be closer to him. Not the lustful desires of passion, although those feelings were undeniably there. No, she wanted their souls to be as close as possible. She wanted to be one with him and never live another day without him by her side.

Yes, she decided. She loved this half-demon man more than words could describe.

Kagome's face heated just slightly as she realized how deeply she cared for InuYasha. Tightening her grip on the Sacred Jewel he had given her as a symbol for how remorseful he was over his earlier actions, she brought her free hand up to cup his face.

Needing so badly to be one with him, yet still a little unconfident in herself from her lack of experience; she could only bring forth one word to express her want of him.

"Please."

As her soft request reached his ears, InuYasha groaned as he sank into her. He examined her features intensely searching for any sign of discomfort on her end. Although, her face only conveyed the wonderment she felt as he filled her. When he was fully inside her he paused for a moment, giving her time to adjust unlike before.

Gaze locked with hers, he deliberately brought his hips up only to slide them back down in a slightly increased pace. He made damn sure he took his time with her this round as his hips rolled sensually into her at a steady tempo. Building up their passions slowly and torturous, wanting to feel every part of her and for her to feel every part of him.

Although he was very mindful of his claws, as his grip on her wrist inadvertently tightened they still pressed into her skin leaving small indentations. His other hand sought out her hand that didn't hold the jewel and lacing his fingers with hers, InuYasha held on to her as he took them both higher.

It wasn't long before he had them both falling over the edge. As her moans filled his ears and her passage tighten around him, he couldn't help but to slide his fangs back into his mark to strengthen his claim.

Unconsciously he angled his neck so she could place her mark on him and he only vaguely noticed when he didn't feel her bite. He was too caught up in the feel of his fangs buried in his mark; extremely pleased with himself for having placed his claim so that he could easily access it from either her front or back.

As they both came down from their euphoria and their bodies started to relax, InuYasha sighed feeling the fatigue of his mate through their bond. While his demon stamina came in handy many times, he could tell now was not one of them. He could have gone several more rounds, but knowing that her body was truly spent he settled for placing loving licks and kisses to his mark.

Not wanting to smother her with his weight, he tightened his arms around her small frame and rolled them so she was laying on top of him. He groaned as she wiggled around some getting comfortable. Still being intimately connected with her, her movements did not help any in calming himself down.

InuYasha smiled feeling her finally relax against him. With her head laid partially on his shoulder and his chest, her hand holding the now pure jewel placed over his heart; a content peacefulness filled them both at their closeness.

Holding her snuggly in his arms, he found he hated himself a lot less. While he still would have chosen to have done things differently, he couldn't deny how pleased he was with the outcome. Besides if this lovely woman could forgive him, who was he to deny her.

Feeling as his mate tried to fight sleep and sensing how anxious she seemed to have become, he glanced down at her sleepy gaze. Seeing the questions swirling in her hazy steel-blues he couldn't blame her for wanting answers about what all had transpired between them. Holding her close, he kissed her forehead before speaking to put her mind at ease.

"I'll explain everything after you've slept."

He felt her smile against his chest and in no time, she had drifted off. Feeling his own eyes grow heavy, InuYasha didn't fight the peaceful lure of sleep. His mind free from the pull of his demon nature, his hatred for himself lessened, his mate content in his arms and still intimately connected with him…he couldn't help but to feel hopeful. After their current activities, perhaps she wouldn't take the news so bad after all…

* * *

The athletic brunette sighed as their pace continued on too slowly for her liking. From the urgency of the letter that had been sent to her village, she wanted to reach the troubled village as soon as possible. Especially if it concerned the Sacred Jewel.

Not to mention there was apparently a lost girl and a rabid demon on the loose!

Sighing heavily again, Sango reached up to scratch the small yellow head of her feline companion resting on her shoulder. Her eyes stared forward at the two men in front of her engaged in conversation, one on horseback the other walking alongside the steed dressed in purple robes and carrying a wooden and gold staff.

She did feel bad for the wary messenger. Upon arriving at her village, one look at him and you could tell he had traveled as swiftly as he could. It seemed he had forgone sleep most nights in his want to reach them in time. And the poor man had been frantic, begging them to come quickly to aid their Priestess Kaede. It had taken a while to calm him, but once they had his tale was justly worrisome.

The Sacred Jewel… reappearing back into the world after all this time? The gem had been lost for 50 years. Why would it now show up so suddenly?

Brown eyes glancing over the man who had brought them the message, her stare caught with the lavender gaze of her monk companion. Sending her a charming smile, Sango couldn't help her own smile that grew.

Her husband was too flirtatious for his own good. She truly didn't know how he had managed to steal her heart. Seeing as how perverted she thought he was since the first time she had met him.

They had met while both answering the summons of a terrified village. One elder believing they needed an exorcist, another saying they needed a demon slayer. So, in order to appease both men, both had been sent for. As it had turned out, Miroku had been the right one for the job.

After that first encounter, however, it seemed he was everywhere! Every village she was called too, there he was. Flashing her his charming smile, and trying to sleaze his way closer to fill her up with that hand!

Sango giggled at the thought of his 'cursed' hand. That had always been his excuse for groping her. She couldn't blame him; it was his 'cursed' hand he would always say. Though that excuse never softened her blows to his head one bit.

As if running into him on every job she went on wasn't enough, the damn monk had eventually found his way to her own village. Saying that he wanted to join forces with them. Claiming what they lacked in exterminating evil spirits, he more than made up for; and where he lacked skill in combating demons of flesh and bone, they certainly made up for.

Sango had at first been livid when the village headman, her father no less, had agreed with the perverted monk. He even assigned his most skilled slayer to team up with their new partner. Which just happened to be her, oh joy.

Yet over time, the lovable goof had won her heart. And not too long ago her hand. Although they were still holding off on having the many, many children he apparently planned on having.

"It's not much further now, we will be there by this afternoon I do believe."

Getting torn from her thoughts at hearing the messengers voice claiming how close they were, Sango couldn't help but to groan to herself.

' _We would have been there much sooner if he hadn't insisted he escort us.'_

Not having wished to spook the man's horse by riding Kirara made them travel at a much slower speed. That, plus having to stop to make a secure campsite during the night of the full moon, put them behind schedule. Miroku's abilities at creating a strong barrier had definitely come in handy though.

Glancing up to catch the shameful look her husband was giving her, Sango blushed lightly realizing she must have groaned a little louder than intended. Wrinkling her nose up at him, she knew he was only teasing her for being so impatient.

She could already hear him now lecturing her on how 'patience is a virtue'. Seeing the smile he shot back at her, she smiled as well. Of course, he would most certainly follow that up with how well it worked for him. Often telling her how he had won her over with his charm and patience.

Scratching the ear of her sleeping kitten, Sango couldn't wait to reach the village. They needed to take care of the Jewel once and for all. She really hoped they weren't too late to save the young girl the man and the letter had spoken of. Yet she didn't like their odds if the woman had still been lost during the demon's night…

And she couldn't forget there was a demon in need of slaying. Apparently a very powerful inu youkai. Sango's jaw clenched, she would kill the beast slowly if she found out the dog had harmed the innocent girl.

Miroku shook his head after seeing how serious Sango's features had become. He loved her for her determination and fiery passion, but he felt sometimes she was too quick to jump to conclusions.

Taking note of Hiroshi's sudden solemn posture, Miroku spoke out kindly to the poor man.

"What troubles you Hiroshi? You will return home soon; you should be happy should you not?"

Lavender eyes not missing a thing, he grew even more curious as the messenger seemed to battle with an inner struggle of some kind. The man's voice was hesitant when he finally spoke.

"I am not sure I should say… Even Kaede-sama seemed frightened…"

His interest truly peeked, Miroku didn't hesitate to use his charm against the man. Nor the fact that he was a man of the cloth.

"Hiroshi, I am a man of the cloth, if you cannot confide your fears in me then who can you?"

He watched as Hiroshi considered his words, and was relieved when the man started to speak to him in a hush tone.

"Lady Kaede even fears the malice of the demon InuYasha. While we know not the origins of the girl, it would seem our Priestess even worries over the possible harm he could cause her… I myself have witnessed how savage this demon can be… yet…"

Listening intently to the man's concerns, Miroku was perplexed when Hiroshi suddenly asked him a strange question. Strange in the fact that he could find no immediate connection with it and the line of their current conversation.

"Good Monk, that is your wife is it not?"

Glancing back at his lovely demon slayer clad in her more comfortable yukata for traveling, Miroku smiled softly as he answered.

"She is indeed."

"What would you do, if someone were to say… run her through with an arrow? Intent on killing her?"

Miroku's face hardened. He was unsure of where Hiroshi was taking this, and his answer was blasphemous especially coming from a holy man. He replied truthfully non the less.

"I would kill them for trying to take her life."

Hiroshi nodded, as if he had expected that to be his answer despite coming from a monk and Miroku was only slightly stunned at what the man said next.

"From how I saw things, that is exactly how the demon InuYasha reacted when Katashi struck the young woman with his arrow. I do not deny his ferocity or the terror he struck in us all, yet with at what ease he slew the mistress centipede… why only kill one man? The very man who caused that girl harm…"

Hearing this Miroku brought his index and thumb up to his chin as he became deep in thought. From the letter Lady Kaede had written, it had seemed she was concerned over wellbeing of the strange young girl because of the demon InuYasha.

Could it be she was just simply concerned for the girl in general? That her only worry with InuYasha was in his possession of the Sacred Jewel? Her letter had been hastily written…

"I apologize for my naïve thinking… I just felt it was information you could use. It was raining and dark after all… I could be mistaken."

As Hiroshi's voice pulled from his thoughts, Miroku smiled at the man trying to reassure him.

"No not at all. I'm glad you confided this in me Hiroshi."

Glancing back at Sango's determined face, Miroku knew he needed to find a moment with her to share this information. He had no clue what they were going to find and given how battle ready his wife already was; it could only add kindling to the flames. Yet he wasn't sure she would even listen to him, she could be extremely stubborn once her mind was set on something.

Eyes focused back on the road in front of him, Miroku couldn't stop the sigh that now left him.

' _This is going to be an interesting day…'_


	8. Chapter 8

**I want to apologize for my long absence! Life has been hectic lately and I haven't had the time to work on this story. I want to assure all my readers though that I WILL be finishing it! Even if some chapters take longer to post. Once again I want to thank all my readers and those of you who give me feedback. You have no idea how much it means to me and how it keeps me motivated. Thank you again for your patience and I hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

**UPDATED**

* * *

Demon Nature

Chapter Eight

Kagome was gently pulled from her sleep as she felt herself being shifted off of her warm pillow. The warmth of the furs and InuYasha's red suikan still around her shoulders was almost enough to lull her back into slumber. Hearing soft sounds of movement peaked her curiosity however. Pulling InuYasha's suikan closer to protect her against the chill in the air, and her modesty, she slowly sat up.

Blinking several times to get her tired eyes to focus, she quickly found the honey-gold of her protectors. Her heart fluttered seeing him standing there and when he gave her a relaxed smile she instantly returned it, a warm sense of content filling her. As she became more aware of her surroundings her eyes started to drift down his sleek muscular form.

Taking note of his bare chest, she was unaware that she was staring as her eyes glued to him. Even though she had seen his chest plenty during their first few days together, she couldn't resist admiring the tanned flesh. It wasn't until he bent over to retrieve his red hakama that she noticed all of him was still bare.

Kagome couldn't help as her eyes widened and her face heated up. Her eyes having landed in between his legs on a certain part of him that she had recently had the pleasure of getting to know. While she had been intimately close with him twice already, this was the first time she actually was seeing _all_ of him.

A small part of her was amused by the fact that even below the waist InuYasha's silver white hair seemed prominent. Most of her was just amazed that he had fit all of that inside her. He wasn't even completely hard, and already she thought he was big.

Watching fascinated as he seemed to grow even more under her intense stare, she was oddly disappointed when his intimate flesh disappeared under his pants. At the sound of his teasing chuckle, she jerked her head in a different direction.

"You keep that up, we won't leave that bed for a while…"

Kagome's face was on fire from being caught staring at him in such a private location, and InuYasha's confident words didn't help things. Daring a glance over to him, she wasn't surprised to find his smile had changed to an arrogant smirk and he had a brow cocked at her.

Turning to him once more, she shyly took him in. He had his white kosode on now, adjusting the material to tuck it into his hakama. His long silver white hair, which never seemed to tangle, was lightly dancing on the breeze that entered the cave. He was genuinely captivating.

Meeting his eyes, Kagome smiled. Those beautiful golden eyes melted her heart. She was never afraid of the scarlet-gold that had been dominant, or even the rare crimson-cobalt that sometimes took over. Yet, when his eyes had been that way she had found them more primal.

His honey-gold eyes were so much warmer. And the calming peace she found in them made her love him all the more. Her heart swelled at that thought for a moment, but doubt crashed down hard and her mind ran wild with fear.

What if he didn't feel the same? Had she fallen victim to a man simply wanting to get into her pants as her mother had warned? Did he expect her sleep with him all the time now with no commitment? Was she just attaching herself to him from the shock of losing her family?

A soothing growl cut through her anxiety and stopped her frantic thoughts. Clutching the forgotten jewel to her chest, Kagome's eyes searched his concerned ones. She vaguely realized he had closed the distance between them. The warmth of his hand now cupping her cheek and his words reassuring her.

"We'll talk when I get back."

InuYasha hadn't been able to pass up the opportunity to tease her when he caught her eyes lingering on him. Although he had held off at first, liking the reaction he could clearly smell coming from her; he had allowed her a little longer to stare. He had only covered himself when her intense gaze started to cause him to get a little _too_ excited.

When he spoke, his voice was deep from the lust he felt fighting to take over. He would be lying if he said he hadn't wanted her to take him up on his implied offer. Half joking, half serious. Joking because he wanted to make sure his mate had a full belly; to catch a late lunch was why he had left her side to begin with. Serious because she smelled too fucking good.

Her natural scent was still there which reminded him of a flower he couldn't remember the name of; sweet yet not sharp on his sensitive nose. But she also smelled earthy and a little tangy. To put it bluntly, she smelled like sex. And more importantly, she smelled like him. With the scent of sex coming off her in strong waves, it pleased him to no end that he was all over her own sweet scent. Which made it that much more difficult to leave her side.

Trying not to focus on her mouthwatering scent, InuYasha instead focused on her cute little blush as she turned in embarrassment. It amused him how she could still be so bashful, especially with how intimately they now knew one another.

Internally groaning at the memories that _that_ thought brought forward, he continued to dress himself so he could go hunt to provide for his new mate. The rational part of him still could hardly believe he had marked her, arguing with his now clear head that they hardly knew one another. Yet when he looked in her smoky blue-grey eyes he instinctively felt connected.

He had learned to never ignore his instincts…

Picking up his kosode, he was tormented even more as he breathed in their combined scents that saturated his clothes. It was getting more and more trying to keep from having a raging boner. The demon side of him wanted to claim his wench over and over, but he refrained. His human half knew he needed to explain things to his _human_ mate and he wasn't sure how hard it would be for her to adjust to their new relationship status.

Hell, she may not want anything to do with him after he explained it all. He hadn't exactly asked her if she wanted this. InuYasha felt a small pain in his heart at that thought. While he wasn't completely sure about the mating rituals of his kind, having mainly been on his own, but he was quite positive his mark wouldn't have taken if her soul rejected his.

That thought gave him hope but still he decided that he would do whatever made her more comfortable. Even if that meant not fucking her nightly… or daily. Granted it was easier to make such promises to himself while being of sound mind. But while his demon nature still nagged and guided him, it wasn't mostly in control like when he had carried the Sacred Jewel.

Feeling a sudden rush of sadness and distress coming from his mate by the bond he shared with her snapped InuYasha from his inner musings. His eyes focused back onto hers and his brows knitted together from the look in her stormy-greys.

She looked panicked and lost. He didn't have to know her exact thoughts to guess where her mind had wondered. Her fear of rejection paining him as it pained her. His immediate reaction was to sooth his mate and remove this feeling from her. Without even thinking his body took its own course of action. The low rumble of his soothing growl leaving him as he went to her.

InuYasha cupped her face in his clawed hand, seeking to comfort her and rid her of whatever unpleasant thoughts plagued her. He was happy when his actions seemed to calm her, even more so when his words relaxed her further. Satisfied that Kagome no longer appeared distressed, he reminded himself of his important task. Feeding her.

Now mentally in a rush, he didn't think as he let his hand fall from her face to her chest reaching for the jewel in her loosely closed hand. He wanted to hurry and find food so he could return and discuss things, and he wasn't about to leave her unprotected with the powerful gem in her presence. However, her reaction gave him pause.

Realizing his intent, her hold tightened on the pure jewel and strange emotion glazed over her eyes. It only lasted a second, but he had noticed it. A small sigh had escaped her after as she then placed the jewel in his palm. He observed her curiously as her hand lingered in his for a moment preventing his youkai energy from darkening the gem.

InuYasha felt the change in himself as soon as she pulled her hand back down to her side. His demon blood becoming stronger, his senses more alert. He normally enjoyed the sensation, but seeing the small splash disappointment run across Kagome's features only for her to give him a shy smile left him bewildered.

He was fixing to inquire about his wench's strange behavior when her stomach gave a small rumble. Watching as she blushed in embarrassment, the awkward laugh she gave at the situation eased him. So, he decided he would just have to ask her later. He had to take care of her needs first.

Pressing his forehead against her own, he spoke to her softly even though his voice was slightly rougher now thanks to the jewel.

"Get some more rest, I'll wake you when there's food to eat."

Pleased when she smiled and moved to lay back down, InuYasha stood and made his way to exit their little cave. He paused for a moment to take a glance back at her. Grinning as he took in the sight of her; with her raven hair messily framing her face, his crimson suikan wrapped snugly around her. The smile she still held for him sent his heart racing and he couldn't wait to get back to her.

It was with that thought that he rushed out of the cave intending to be as quick as possible.

* * *

When next Kagome woke, it was to the delicious aroma of cooked meat. Raising herself onto her hands and knees, her eyes immediately sought out InuYasha. She smiled when she found him hunched over near the fire collecting the sticks of skewered fish. Seeing one of his cute canine ears give a twitch and turn towards her direction made her giggle.

At that sound he turned to give her an amused look, lifting his eyebrow at her as if to say 'what's so funny?'. Her mouth watered a little as he made his way toward her with their lunch. She honestly hadn't realized how hungry she was until that moment.

InuYasha sat next to her and handed her two sticks which she accepted with a small 'thank you' before digging in. They ate in a comfortable silence, every now and then stealing glances at the other. Kagome loved how at home she felt with him and was starting to dread the coming conversation.

When they had both finished eating, she began to feel tense. And not knowing what to do or say, she started to bite her bottom lip out of nervousness. She was startled when unexpectedly his hand appeared in front of her with the sacred jewel resting in his palm.

Confused she turned to see his crimson-honey eyes staring at her and a small smile on his face. His voice was calm and steady as he spoke offering her an explanation.

"I don't need it when I'm with you and there isn't any danger. The longer it's in my possession the darker and stronger its powers get…"

Kagome watched as his demeanor changed somewhat forlorn, and his ears slightly drooped before he spoke again, with regret thickening his voice.

"I held on to it too long before, then the added pull of the full moon…"

As his eyes avoided her own, she felt an odd sensation wash over her. Emotions that weren't hers started to build up and mix with her own. Gradually building up inside her, the feeling came close to having too much energy needing to be released. Or that hyper feeling one felt after drinking one too many cups of coffee.

Her growing confusion at the situation didn't help any and only enhanced what she was feeling. Overwhelmed by emotions, it was InuYasha's next words that sent her over the edge.

"I'm sorry…"

At the sound of his voice when he spoke those words and the added wave of foreign emotions that entered her as he said them, Kagome broke down. Hot tears left her all at once. Her vision rapidly became blurry and she found it harder and harder to try to speak as she hiccupped for breath.

InuYasha had been thinking of ways to start the conversation that needed to be had with Kagome ever since he had returned from his little fishing trip. Every scenario he played out in his head left him fearing her rejection.

When he first heard the tale tell signs of his sleeping mate awakening he was instantly nervous. However, after hearing her soft giggles and turning to take in her subtle beauty, he had relaxed. Pleased to have a few peaceful moments with her before diving into more serious subjects, he had enjoyed the silence they shared as they ate.

When their bellies were full and the air began to grow tense around them, he decided he had put it off as long as he could. Knowing the conversation he was about to have with her would probably go better if he were in his half-human state, he held out the jewel to his mate. When her confused eyes found his InuYasha forced a smile to try to put both her and himself at ease.

He did his best to come across as calm as he tried to offer an explanation, but he couldn't control the growing fears he felt inside. As he tried to explain the jewels part in last night and place some of the blame on it, his shame and regret for his actions built.

When finally, he concluded lamely with a sad apology, he was caught off guard at Kagome's reaction. He jumped slightly at her loud gasp for air and his eyes widen horrified as tears rolled down her face. Fearing that her tears were because of him and what he had done to her the night before, InuYasha sat stiffly in place.

Not knowing what to do was causing him to get frantic, the more Kagome cried the more anxious and worried he became. Seeing the young miko clench her fist in what looked to be anger, he thought maybe she wanted to be away from him. His ears flattened as he dejectedly asked her if she would like him to leave.

"Do you want me to go…?"

"Nn… _No_!"

InuYasha was only left more confused as she practically shouted 'NO', having finally caught a breath, and grabbed his hand as if to insure he wouldn't leave. He strained to make out her words as she continued to try to speak to him amongst her tears. Catching bits and pieces of words, he was able to put together what sounded like 'don't know why', 'emotional', and 'can't stop'.

Staring at her feeling helpless, he took in her inflamed puffy eyes and blotchy red face. Ashamed that he had apparently caused this, his golden-red eyes drifted down and landed on his mark at her slender neck. All at once he understood what was happening and as realization dawned on him he felt extremely foolish for his oversite.

"Fuck…"

Immediately he grabbed his distraught mate and swooped her into his lap. Cradling her like a small child, her head tucked snuggly under his chin, InuYasha began to call to her. As his mate call filled the cave and slowly replaced her cries, they both began to relax.

Kagome would have thought InuYasha's reaction to her tears comical in normal circumstances; his eyes large with shock and confusion added with just the general look of terror men seemed to express when confronted with an emotional woman. As it was his bewilderment and anxiety only seemed to fuel whatever was wrong with her.

She was able to push out a "no" when he tentatively asked if she wanted him to leave. Still uncertain why she was experiencing these waves of emotions or why she was crying, she tried her best to explain to her half-demon what she was feeling. She had almost given up when he still looked at her lost, his eyes seeming to lower in defeat when suddenly his demeanor changed.

Kagome heard him spit out a curse before she found herself being held tenderly in his lap with that all-consuming relaxing purr of his slowly working its' magic in calming her. She didn't resist when she felt him place the sacred jewel into her slightly closed palm and tightening her grip on the gem, she snuggled closer to her protector.

When he started to speak to her again, she could tell he had changed back into his half-demon state by the softer sound of his voice. As he spoke, she concentrated on evening her breathing more.

"Shit Kagome, I'm so sorry. I should have warned you sooner about this. Fuck! I keep screwing this up."

Kagome waited as InuYasha grew silent clearly gathering his thoughts. She sensed he was angry with himself, although frankly, she couldn't figure out why. It wasn't his fault she malfunctioned and randomly started bawling.

Wanting to make him feel better as he had done for her, she turned her head to place a shy kiss to muscular neck. Releasing the breath she had unknowingly been holding, she spoke gently to him.

"It's ok."

This seemed to pull InuYasha out of whatever mental battle he was having. She could feel his body relax more into hers and his arms gave her a small squeeze. Smiling softly to herself, Kagome only nodded when InuYasha addressed her again and waited for him to continue.

"Kagome… We need to talk about what happened last night and just now."

She listened intensely as InuYasha began to nervously explain things to her and she never interrupted him. Giving him as much time as he needed during the moments he would pause to gather himself or to purr softly to her when one or both of them would start to feel anxious.

He started off by explaining how the longer the Sacred Jewel stayed in his possession without being fully purified by her powers, the stronger its' demonic aura grew. The stronger its demonic aura, the more his youkai blood took over. Then he gave her a brief crash course in how the full moon affected those of demonic blood.

Kagome supposed it made perfect sense. The pull from the moon affected many things. It even affected humans; although never really causing much but a restless night and some added energy, maybe a little mood change. It really wasn't so surprising to learn that its effects were worse in those with heightened senses.

When InuYasha paused for a little longer than usual, she sensed what he was about to tell her next was weighing heavily on his mind. Hearing him let out a small sigh and apologize once more, she was puzzled at what he said next.

"Kagome, I marked you without asking… I shouldn't have done that. And there's really nothing I can do to undo it since the mark took so strongly."

Leaning back slightly to look at his face, Kagome's brows were scrunched together as she asked him sincerely perplexed.

"Marked me? What mark?"

InuYasha had done his best to explain things to his untrained miko. Even if some of it had been slightly embarrassing to admit; he didn't necessarily like sharing that during the full moon he was left with two options, fight or fuck. Still, he had pushed through it though.

However, at Kagome's confusion when he confessed to marking her he was a little loss for words. He wasn't 100% sure on how it worked himself, how was he supposed to explain it? His honey eyes landed on the mark in question at her neck as he became lost in thought.

To a normal human's eye, it probably only appeared to be two puncture wounds; possibly from some wild beast or youkai attack. To those of demonic blood, or the few humans who possessed any spiritual powers, the two small marks gave off a silver-ish glint. Demons had the added ability of being able to smell the mark. The scent of the one who had placed the claim coming strongly from it. InuYasha smirked proudly at that thought, clearly smelling himself coming from his mark.

Mesmerized by its silver sheen and lost to wonderment in how intimately it connected himself with this unique woman he had the good fortune to cross paths with, his clawed hand made its' way towards his mark without command. His movements only registered to him when his fingertips lightly brushed against the mark.

A sharp inhale from both himself and his mate had him smirking as an electrical erotic current flowed through them both. His smirk only grew more devilish as the heavy scent of arousal from his raven-haired beauty teased his sensitive nose. Between the mouthwatering scent of his now not-so-pure miko and the instant jolt to his cock that his light contact with his mate mark had caused, InuYasha's mind was quickly turning to other activities.

Seeing the ever-growing bewilderment in the blue-greys of his _human_ mate helped to get him back on track. He owed her an explanation. Also, he highly doubted she'd agree to any sexual activities when there was still so much she didn't understand. Still it was hard not to want her, especially considering it was normal for newly mated couples to spend days "strengthening" their bond.

Another abrupt jolt to his dick and matches groans filling the air jerked him back from his thoughts. Spotting a dainty hand having just lightly touched the mark, he was quick to stop her when she went to touch it again out of curiosity.

This caused inquisitive stormy eyes to lock with his golden orbs, silently seeking answers. He took a moment to calm his racing heart, and remind himself that sex was out of the question… at least for now. Gesturing towards the mark at her neck with his head he answered her question with a simple statement.

"That mark."

InuYasha could tell she was recalling both her encounters with him when her eyes got a far-off look to them. He knew from the small shiver that left her when she remembered him biting her in the very spot that held her attention now. As her face grew rosy with embarrassment, he couldn't help but be slightly amused. His delight grew when she opened and closed her mouth in failed attempts to question him.

"Why does… does it um… feel funny when it's touched?"

When she was finally able to find her voice, he took pity on the poor confused girl. And instead of teasing her about the "funny" feeling it caused, he braced himself for a long explanation.

He started by referring to the human custom of marriage to try to give her something to compare to. Explaining how humans had their customs and demons had theirs. Where humans showed their commitment to one another through marriage, demons showed theirs through mating. Only it was a much more serious bond with demons.

Not to mention there were different claims one could be marked with, but he didn't get into that just yet. He continued on explaining. Comparing to how sometimes humans exchanged rings as a symbol of their bond, at least the wealthier ones did, was similar to the mate mark she now supported.

InuYasha's voice became very serious at what he said next, even somewhat cocky toward the end.

"It's a claim, a big fuck off to other demons or humans if they know what it means. It shows you are taken and that to make any advances toward you, whether they be sexual or violent, is directly challenging me. To do that is basically signing a death certificate, because when that happens it is almost always a fight to the death. You don't mess with another male's mate, and I ain't no demon any want to be fucking challenging."

He paused for a moment, remembering exactly why his demon had claimed her in the first place. In all the madness; being lost to both the full moon and the tainted jewel, those three cretins making advances on his priestess, the one taunting him reminding him he had yet to place a claim…his demon saw it as a challenge despite the fact he had yet to mark her. That had just been a mistake on his part; his female was put in danger because she wasn't properly marked… And he had certainly made sure to remedy that mistake.

Now, she was safe. Lowly demons like last night wouldn't dare come near her sensing such a strong powerful demonic aura coming from the claim she supported. So, if someone did make advances they were intending on challenging him. Truthfully, it only helped being so completely taken over by his demonic blood when he had placed the mark. It made it stronger than if he had made the claim while in his half-demon state.

InuYasha tried to steady his breathing as he told Kagome that bit of information. And he watched her face intently, looking for any signs of hatred toward him or any further confusion. For her part, she seemed to just be taking it all in stride, listening very carefully to his words.

Going on to explain why she had been overcome with emotions earlier, to the point of crying, he couldn't hide the guilt he felt for that. He described the best he could of the connection they now shared. Sharing how they could now both sense what the other was feeling. It wasn't like a telepathic link, they couldn't read each other's minds, but just a general sense of emotion.

Its' purpose was to help keep ones' mate safe. Having the ability to feel the emotions of your mate, no matter the distance, could indeed help save their life. If for example she were frightened or in pain, most likely indicating danger, he would know to come running.

The connection also helped with keeping the mated pair a united front. It was hard to stay angry for long when you could feel the hurt you had caused the other. Feeling the love each felt for one another undeniably helped as well. True this would only matter to mates who actually loved one another.

Unfortunately, it was easy to become overwhelmed from having strong emotions mixing with your own. Especially if you weren't aware of what was happening. Having not warned Kagome before, InuYasha's own fears and anxiety had caught her off guard and flooded her senses.

He assured her though that now that she knew she could better sort and handle sometimes having foreign emotions invading her. She still may become overcome at times, if what he was feeling was really strong, but it would get better with time as she learned to better deal with it.

Continuing on to explain why the mark felt "funny" when touched, InuYasha smirked at how her face lit up. But he was able to refrain from teasing, not wanting her to miss important information from being too embarrassed to pay attention.

When touched, the mark gave off a burst of energy to both parties. This was mainly to get his attention if he was away; a way for her to call to him. However, when done in close proximity like now, it tended to have other effects. Since they could both clearly see the other was just fine, it was basically an invitation for intimate relations. Not to mention that during said activities it was one hell of a sexual enhancement.

InuYasha lost his smirk as he went on to tell her the other kinds of reactions the mark could cause, not finding this subject quite as amusing. He warned her that if touched by anyone besides the mated pair, it could have very negative reactions. The degrees in which varied, depending on who had touched it and what their relationship was with the one possessing the mark.

If say another male touched her mark that was a stranger, it could cause her to have a nauseous feeling or even pain. On his end, he would still receive a burst of energy; but he would also feel her distress. This was to alert him that another male was touching what was his and, in a sense, challenging him. The burst of energy would then essentially be preparing him for a fight.

The effects were far less severe if a female or a child touched it. The worst it could cause would be the heebie-jeebie's or a weird sensation. However, if it were the mated pairs own offspring, the sensation would be warm and calming.

Finally coming to the end of his explanations, InuYasha waited for Kagome to process everything. He watched as she bit her lip in concentration and from a slight nervousness. It worried him when he saw her delicate brows draw together, clearly not liking or understanding something he had said.

When she started to speak, he tensed preparing himself for the worse.

"So last night… you… did what you did… because your demon energy was so strong and took over… and that part of you sees me as belonging to him?"

InuYasha cringed, not at all liking the way she seemed to have misunderstood a key detail. Intent on correcting this misunderstanding, he gently cupped her face in his palm and tilted her head to lock eyes with her own. Heart pounding hard in his chest, he dived off the preverbal cliff. She would either accept or reject him.

"Kagome… demons relay heavily on their instincts. It's a sixth sense in a way. We don't do anything without purpose… The mark I gave you; because it _was_ still _me_ … Just a bolder primal me… That mark doesn't claim you as property. Nor would I do anything that deep down I didn't want to do…"

Knowing he had her full attention and that now his heart wasn't the only one beating loudly in his ears, InuYasha swallowed hard as he continued.

"I know we haven't known each other long, so what I'm feeling may seem crazy… But I instantly felt so at peace with you. You called to me even when I was lost to blood lust that first night… I'm a demon Kagome, half or not my instincts still lead me in the right direction. While what I'm feeling may confuse humans, my instincts let me know that it's not just a passing fancy... I've known you were the one for me since day one."

InuYasha wasn't sure whose heart was thudding loudest. The beats seemed almost deafening to his sensitive ears, yet somehow, he still made out the small gasp that left her pink lips at his words. While he took the fact that she hadn't pulled away from him yet as a good sign, he still rushed to continue. Afraid to lose his nerve not being in his more bolder state.

"I realize you're human and these things may take longer for you to accept or see… I… ugh… I had planned on courting you. To give you time to, hopefully, feel the same as I do. But then last night… Fuck Kagome I'm sorry. I know I took something special from you, in more than one way. You have to know I was not trying to hurt you. In that state, social customs and pleasantries take a backseat and instincts rule. I already see you as mine, so that part of me saw no issue with making it official to protect you."

Finally, he grew silent and watched her intensely as he waited for her reply. When her steel-blues went from misty to watery, he started to panic. While going over everything he had said in his head frantically, searching for where he may have been unclear or misspoken; he was pleased he had had the foresight to give her the jewel.

He doubted he would have confessed as much to her with his demon blood pumping stronger through his veins. It was in allowing his human heart to surface that permitted him to speak more openly. Still he feared he had fucked up somehow, and waiting to hear from her was eating him alive.

Kagome was left speechless. She had sat silently in his lap as InuYasha had explained everything to her, holding all her questions in until the end. Granted some parts were slightly embarrassing and difficult to understand, but she had managed.

She had felt a little hurt thinking InuYasha's demon half thought of her as property. Truthfully it stung, since she had spent more time with him in that state than in his current half-demon one. This actually had been the longest she had spent with him without his demon blood being more in control.

He was her friend, her protector, her demon knight in shining armor! And he only thought of her as something that belonged to him?

Yet as she had sat in his embrace, being held so tenderly by someone so deadly, she thought she had had to be misunderstanding. After she had voiced her question and when InuYasha had softly cupped her face, she knew she had.

However, the confession he gave her she had not been prepared for. She had expected, had hoped, for him to admit he cared for her. Except she thought it would be more on a 'hey I like you want to see where this goes?' level. To hear his feelings were stronger than that made her heart flutter.

Learning he basically felt the same way she did, despite the short amount of time knowing one another, set her on cloud 9. Suddenly the meaning behind everything he had previously told her became much more intimate and not about him keeping his possession safe.

When thinking his claim had been more because he thought of her as property; like how some poor women of this time were wed off to men for such reasons, Kagome had been insulted. She was not some obedient women to grovel at a man's feet and basically be a built-in sex slave and house maid.

Yet now the true meaning of his claim made her eyes mist over with happiness. From what she understood from his explanation, in human terms she was his wife. Not because he had a sense of ownership over her, but because he genuinely cared for her. That thought both thrilled and terrified her.

Thrilled because she did love this man. Terrified because that was a huge step and she wasn't sure if she was completely ready for all the expectations of her as a wife. Not to mention she would have rather to had got to know each other better before such a step.

Remembering his adorable confession in having had wanted to court her, Kagome blushed prettily. Maybe they could still do that. Sensing how nervous her demon lover had become in waiting for her to respond, she gave him a timid smile before speaking.

"Can we still do that?"

"What?"

At InuYasha's optimistic but bemused response, she realized she hadn't made it clear to what she was referring to. Staring into his beautiful golden orbs, she tried once more to voice her request.

"Date…. Um, courting… Can we still do that?"

Seeing the brilliant smile that he gave her made Kagome's heart soar. She realized though that she was being unfair to him. He had after all confessed his feelings to her, didn't she owe him the same curtesy?

Becoming slightly anxious at what she was about to do, she bit her bottom lip and lowered her gaze to his chest. Taking a deep breath, she tried not to show how nervous she was as she spoke.

"I really care about you InuYasha. You are more than just the man who saved me. You've given me a home, not just a place to stay but a home, because you make it that way. Yes, you did take something special from me, but I understand you weren't exactly yourself. Having both the pull from the full moon and the tainted jewel effecting you… but I'm so glad it was you. And… and you made this morning special…"

Kagome blushed hotter at saying that, but it was the truth. She didn't want him feeling like a complete monster thinking he had done such a thing without her wanting it. Fact was she did. Although she would have preferred for it to have been done under different circumstances, especially that first time; but this morning? She'd cherish that.

Still blushing and avoiding looking at InuYasha's face, she continued talking. Completely missing the faint blush that had warmed InuYasha's own cheeks.

"While I'm very happy to be with you, especially knowing you feel the same about me, I would like to take things a little slow and get to know each other better. I realize that the bond we have can't be undone… and I don't want it to be!... I just want to start with courting, like you had planned… Build our relationship up like any new couple would."

InuYasha was ecstatic that she wasn't rejecting him. Better than that, she was accepting him and his claim! He was beyond relieved to hear she didn't hold any ill will against him for his actions last night. And hearing her admit that he made her second encounter with him special had him blushing slightly.

He chuckled quietly when she had rushed to assure him that she didn't want to undo their bond. Her next words however had him mentally cringing. Reading the unspoken message hidden amongst her innocent request, he knew what she was really saying.

No sex.

Now he didn't fault her in wanting time to ease into things, he had sort of propelled their relationship to a much more intimate level very quickly; and hell, she deserved to be wooed. While wooing wasn't necessarily in his area of expertise, if wooing was what she wanted then woo he would. InuYasha just knew how difficult abiding to her wishes was going to be.

It was almost impossible for newly mated pairs to keep their hands to themselves because the new bond practically demanded that they strengthen it. Each time they came together only made them a stronger unit. He already had a hard time abstaining from touching her before his mark was in place… Now?

He could already feel the pull on his demonic senses from the bond; the need to be with her growing stronger. During all this, with both of their emotional distress and needing to clear the air, the pull had been quieted down by more pressing matters. Now that they were both fine, its demanding presence was making itself known.

If the pull on his youkai blood was this bad in his half-demon status, InuYasha hated to think how it would be if his demon nature were more in control. He supposed he'd just have to avoid touching the jewel period. Well, unless a dangerous situation presented itself.

Looking down at his still nervous mate, he groaned internally accepting his fate. He knew how new this all was to her and how innocent she still was in some ways. Plus, she had him wrapped around her little finger, and he would do anything for her happiness. Even if that meant having a serious case of blue balls.

Still cupping her face, he gently pulled her face towards his while lowering his own to her. His lips met her cheek in a sweet caress, and when he pulled back slightly to catch her gaze all he saw was wonderment in her blue-greys. He couldn't help but smile lovingly at her.

"Yeah we can do that."

At his soft reply, his agreeance to her unspoken request instantly erased all anxiety his raven-haired beauty had been feeling. She smiled back at him and her free hand reached up to hold his hand to her cheek more closely.

They stayed like that a moment, both enjoying just being near the other, before InuYasha's smile slowly turned into a playful smirk. His amber gaze shined with mischief as he couldn't resist teasing her.

"I'm going to court the fuck out of you."

Kagome couldn't contain the joyous laughter that flowed out from her filling the cave.


	9. Chapter 9

**UPDATED**

Demon Nature

Chapter Nine

"I can't believe you destroyed both of my only under garments in one night!"

InuYasha groaned as Kagome chastised him from his back, obviously still upset about the destruction of her flimsy clothes. Regardless of how her current mood was, he couldn't help but to smirk recalling how cute she had been when she had made the discovery back in the cave. Having had finally settled everything between them, he had inquired as to why she had been traipsing around in the woods last night.

After she had explained how she had been in search of her lost shoes, since the weather was starting to get colder, he had happily agreed to take her to search for them. As he had stood adjusting his clothes and waiting for her to do the same with his red suikan she still wore, he had heard the strangest sound from her.

It was a cross between a gasp and a squeak. Her stormy eyes had widened in horror while gaping down at her chest area. Each of her hands held his crimson shirt slightly open to where, unfortunately, only she could see down inside.

It hadn't taken long for him to figure out what had her acting so strangely. For those beautiful eyes of hers had locked on him quickly in a heated glare, unmistakably displeased. However, no matter how angry her stare portrayed her to be, her voice had betrayed her as she spoke; unwillingly allowing her embarrassment to be apparent.

"You cut my bra in half?!"

InuYasha had been puzzled for a moment by the word she had used, but he had been quick in catching up. Remembering the article of flimsy cloth that had covered her breast, that might he add had been in the way, he smirked recalling how he had slit it down the middle. Apparently, that cloth was called a bra.

Having then given her a fanged smirk and a devilish look, he had not been able to help but to tease her as had he spoke smoothly.

"It was in the way."

That clearly had not been the response she had expected. Her eyes had quickly avoided his and directed her glare at the object in question. Staying silent, she had turned her back to him. InuYasha had watched curiously as she did a little maneuvering to get the torn garment off and then brought it up to her face for closer inspection.

He had heard her mumble something about 'needle and thread' before she put the flimsy material away. She had then turned to him and stated calmly that she was ready, although she had done a good job at not looking him directly in the face. Having felt some pity on the poor girl, he had decided to be helpful instead of tease more.

"I'll try to find some supplies to fix it ok?"

The shy smile she had given him had warmed his heart, and quickly had him urging her onto his back wishing to be closer. As soon as he had felt her settle against him, he had taken off into the forest at a leisure pace. He had begun to relax, having his mate so close and the warm sun shining down on them, when said mate had to ask more questions…

"So… where's my bottom underwear?"

His eyes had widened some remembering how completely he had destroyed that particular piece of cloth. He had to clear his throat before speaking, trying very hard not to sound too pleased with himself.

"Yeah… those… let's just say those can't be fixed."

Which led InuYasha to his current situation. Having his ear tugged on with a fuming mate grumbling at him.

"I can't believe you did that! What am I supposed to wear underneath my clothes now? Scratch that, under _your_ clothes! Because you cut up _my_ clothes on day one!"

Picking up his pace, he rushed to get them to the area she may have lost her shoes as quickly as possible. He wasn't sure how much more abuse his ear could take. Although he did feel bad that his mate was without proper attire to keep her warm, and it was getting colder by the day…

"Look I'll get you some clothes alright?! Just stop tugging on my ear woman!"

Feeling the immediate relief to his ear and the gentle pressure on his shoulder from her hand being placed there was the only response InuYasha received. His miko became shockingly quite for the next few moments. Instead of feeling relieved for the reprieve, her unusual silence only worried him.

Spotting the large branches of the Sacred Tree, he hurried to land at its base. He intended to check on his mate to make sure everything was ok; surely, she wasn't _that_ mad at him? However, he forgot what he was doing when his eyes landed on the scar that marked where he had been pinned for so long.

His honey eyes narrowed as he stared at the Tree of Ages in contemplation. A part of him despised this tree. How many years of his life had been wasted imprisoned here by that traitorous bitch?

Yet, wasn't it strange that he felt at peace being in its' presence and thankful for it? After all, because of this tree, because of the actions of that bitch miko, he met Kagome. That alone was enough to erase any negative holds this Sacred Tree may still have had.

"I'm sorry"

The soft sound of his raven-haired beauty speaking to him from his back, brought InuYasha back from his reflections. He was bewildered at first by her apology, but she quickly followed it up with a gentle ear rub to the fuzzy canine she had abused earlier; making her meaning clear.

"I shouldn't sound so ungrateful, you've taken really good care of me and I know we don't have a lot. I guess I'm still use to having modern luxuries. And I definitely shouldn't be tugging at your cute ears."

InuYasha was only half listening to her sweet voice, the majority of his focus was on the magic her fingers held. Damn his woman could give an ear rub! His head had started to unconsciously lean into her hand and his eyes had somehow closed without his knowledge.

The spell she held him under was broken though, when she referred to his ears as "cute". Blushing slightly despite himself, he straightened up and slowly released her legs so she could stand. Once his arms were freed he crossed them and turned to give his petite offender his best glare.

"Hey! They are not 'cute'!"

She must not have found him very intimidating, either that or she saw through his façade. Whichever way Kagome only let out a soft giggle at his response before reaching up to give his cute appendage one last tweak. Her smile only grew as he twitched the little fuzzy triangle away while trying to keep his stern look.

"Sure sure, now help me find my shoes."

Grumbling some about bossy wenches before he completely dropped his façade, InuYasha then took in several deep breathes through his nose. His brows knitted together when he didn't immediately catch his mates scent lingering around on anything. Although, it had been about two weeks and had rained some since she had last worn the things.

Kneeling down on all fours, he began to sniff at the ground to better his chances of picking up her scent. Pretty soon he was bouncing around inspecting different areas and letting out a low growl as he was still coming up short.

Kagome let out another small giggle at InuYasha's actions. Honestly, he did act very dog like at times. She supposed that was to be expected since he _was_ a dog demon… well half of one at least.

Forcing herself to focus on the task at hand, and not the adorable flustered growls her mate was letting out, she started retracing her steps from the fateful night she lost her shoes. However, she found it hard to concentrate after thinking of that gorgeous demon as her mate. The thought caused her cheeks to pink as her mind started to wonder, remembering everything that had transpired between the two of them. Everything they had said to each other, everything they had… done.

' _Geez, get ahold of yourself! You're basically his wife, you can't turn into a tomato every time you do stuff.'_

That line of thinking only caused her blush to deepen. Despite the fact that he had agreed to take his time with her, to court her even, Kagome knew that eventually they would get intimate again. Except she was even more embarrassed to realize part of her couldn't wait for that to happen.

Stepping out into a sunny clearing, she was jerked from her thoughts when a bright ray of sun hit her eyes. Shielding her face from the sun, she blinked rapidly a few times trying to get her sight to adjust. When her vision finally cleared, she caught her breath as she realized exactly where she had wondered to. Steel-blues landing on the old well, her heart ached in her chest and her mind ran frantic with worry.

Was her family ok? Had they given up hope in finding her? Did they think she had been kidnapped? Or worse, that she was dead? Had they grieved over her? What if they still were grieving? What about Souta? He had been there when it had happened. No one probably believed him…

Unconsciously placing her hand over the pocket where the Sacred Jewel resided, Kagome felt a strange pull and found herself walking towards the magic well that had brought her to this strange time. Her heart hurt from beliefs of what her family must be going through. She missed them all so much. What she wouldn't give to see them again.

Inching closer and closer to the old run down well, she couldn't stop her next thought from passing through her mind. Her desire to see her family so strong, the idea just eased its way into her.

Perhaps the well would take her back.

Fear suddenly struck her at the notion, causing her feet to halt. Realizing just how close she had gotten to the ancient dirty well, she quickly took a few steps back. Her mind quickly filled with images of another whom she cared deeply for. What about InuYasha? Eyes hard, she scowled at the magic well as if it were a living thing trying to trick her.

The heat in her eyes didn't last, however, and was soon replaced with a deep grief. Kagome loved her family, she really did. Yet… she couldn't leave InuYasha. No matter how strong the temptation was to jump down that enchanted well in hopes of seeing her family, the fear that she wouldn't see InuYasha ever again was stronger.

Those thoughts only distressed and mystified her more, leaving her emotional from so many conflicting feelings. The pinprick of tears building in her eyes caused the well to blur in her vision, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall. She wanted to be strong... she would be strong.

Suddenly a small yellow flower held between two clawed fingers came into her line of sight, cutting off her view of the well. Feeling the presence of her protector directly behind her, Kagome's breathe caught as she felt the warmth of his hit her ear as he spoke.

"I know you miss your family, and this life was kinda thrust on you… But I swear Kagome I'll do my best to make you happy and to make things easy for you."

InuYasha nervously watched as Kagome turned her head to gaze into his eyes a moment before her blue-greys travelled back to the yellow flower he still held up for her. Seeing the small smile that graced her lips as she reached up to take the flower from him, instantly relaxed him. He had been on edge since he had first found her in the clearing, upset and so damn close to that ancient well.

Knowing his gift had improved her mood, he was so grateful he had found the flower.

He had found the little yellow rose all alone in a bush while he had been sniffing around in search of her lost shoes. Astonished at finding a rose still in bloom this close to them being out of season, InuYasha hadn't hesitated in cutting it from its home. It would make a lovely gift for his mate and he was supposed to be courting her was he not?

Immediately he had gone in search of her to offer his gift; extremely pleased with having found something pretty to give her. However, his good mood left him when he found her in the clearing standing so close to the well.

She had just stood there staring at it, and the longer she stared the more sorrow he could feel filling her through their bond. He knew that the well had been the passageway from her home to here. He knew she had family on the other side of it and certainly knew that she missed that family. Too many times now he had caught her crying or close to tears. Each time she had simply given him a forlorn smile saying she just missed her family and would get over it. The encounters never lasted long, and never were as bad as her first night here when he'd heard her crying.

But still… Did she want to try to go back? He knew she had tried before, after all that was where he'd found her near death. Would the well even work to take her back? It hadn't before, but then again, he had no idea why it had brought her here to begin with.

Having been unable to stand the grief he felt coming from his mate any longer, InuYasha had made his way toward her intent on making her happy. When he had first reached her, he hadn't known what to say. Remembering his gift, he was struck with inspiration and had held it up in her line of sight.

Observing her now as she held the small rose to her nose, a larger smile taking over her face as she breathed in its fragrance, he gave a small smile of his own. Her happiness was his and he'd do anything to make her happy. His ear gave a twitch as he heard her soft voice whisper a 'thank you'.

"Keh, ain't no big deal."

Kagome giggled at his typical response after having done something sweet. Her heart warmed at the playful smirk he gave her. It amazed her how effortlessly he could change her mood and make her happy. Wanting to show him how much she appreciated his thoughtful gift and kind words, she pushed back her embarrassment and swallowed hard in preparation for what she was about to do.

Holding her beautiful flower in her left hand, she placed her right on his chest and quickly stretched up on her tippy-toes. Placing a soft kiss to his cheek, she couldn't help but to smile against him. Her own cheeks tinted a light pink as she pulled back expecting to see his teasing smirk.

However, the sour look on his face erased all the playfulness and happiness she was feeling; replacing it with uncertainty and the feeling that maybe she had done something out of line. InuYasha's black eyebrows were drawn tightly together, the look in his golden eyes hard, and his ears stood stiff in attention.

"I'm sor…"

" _Shh_!"

After he cut off her apology wanting her to remain silent, Kagome examined InuYasha closely getting the feeling something wasn't right. Her own delicate brows scrunched together in concentration as she saw InuYasha tilt his head to look over his shoulder in the direction of the Sacred Tree. Realization was dawning on her as he began to glare heatedly into the forest.

InuYasha only acted like this right before a fight was about to happen…

Her suspicions were confirmed when he spoke, his voice low and deep and leaving no room for argument.

"Kagome, give me the jewel and hide…"

* * *

Miroku sighed as he continued on trucking through the forest following after his strong-willed wife, his staff jingling in his right hand with every step. He had not been able to speak with her in private to discuss the things Hiroshi had confided in him. As soon as they had reached the village Sango and the villagers had been all business.

There had been no break or pleasantries when they had been taken to the hut that belong to the village priestess. The elderly miko had been ready to go as soon as she had heard they had been spotted entering the village. Evidently, she felt she could fill them in on the situation thoroughly enough as she took them to the location all the chaos had taken place.

He had tried making eye contact with his wife's lovely brown eyes on more than one occasion; thinking maybe he could gain her attention enough for her to know that he needed to speak with her. However, fate was not on his side and Sango's attention was focused in on Lady Kaede as the old priestess spoke to them.

"Fifty years has passed since my sister sealed the demon InuYasha to the Tree of Ages and carried the Sacred Jewel with her into the netherworld. For it to have returned after all these years does not bode well. Not to forget that InuYasha has awoken from my sisters' spell. Her seal should have lasted forever."

Glancing in his wife's direction Miroku took in her sleek form in her fighting gear, noting her grip on her weapon and how battle ready she already was. Wishing to avoid a possible unnecessary battle, he was just about to speak up to inquire about the demon InuYasha. Hoping to use this opportunity to calm Sango's itching fingers to prevent her from reaching too quickly for the hiraikotsu. His wife, however, beat him to it and asked her own question.

"What about the girl that was mentioned? Could she be the cause? Your note was hastily written Lady Kaede, from it I gathered the girl was in need of rescuing. Yet I heard some of the village men muttering about a dark priestess?"

"My child, I am afraid I do not have all the answers for I was not there to bare witness to what transpired. The circumstances of this young girls' arrival due indeed seem to be suspicious, a lot of the village men who were there have mixed views on what happened. However, one man in particular, whoms' word I trust most, confided that she only appeared to be a terrified young lass."

Sango's brows drew together in worry and determination. She would save this poor girl no matter what! As well as return the Jewel of Four Souls into safe hands. Glaring hard straight ahead at a large mystic tree, her voice was harsh as she promised Lady Kaede that all would be righted.

"Don't you worry Lady Kaede, I'll find the lost girl and kill this demon who has stolen both her and the jewel!"

Kaede's steps faltered at hearing the female warriors' words. The woman thought InuYasha had taken the girl? While Kaede did not know for sure herself, she hated guessing at what had transpired and being misinformed. That only led to confusion and hasty rash actions.

Intent on correcting the young woman's conclusion of the situation, Kaede was cut off before she had the chance to speak by the monk.

"I sense the presence of a powerful demon! And something else as well… I believe it's the jewel!"

Kaede's gaze looked passed the Sacred Tree into the direction of the clearing beyond, her one good eye widening at the sudden demonic aura she felt. A powerful aura that seemed to come out of nowhere, yet still felt familiar to her after all these years…

Suddenly, the young demon slayer lass took off in the direction they could feel the demonic presence coming from. Her small lethal form fast on her feet even with the added weight of her large weapon and tiny kitten passenger. The monk quickly followed after his battle-ready bride, calling out her name imploring for her to stop before rushing into battle.

Kaede hurried her own pace as best as her old bones would allow. Her hand clutching a hidden object in her breast pocket, prepared for the worst and ready to remedy the situation if need be. After all, she had once considered the demon InuYasha to be her friend…

* * *

Sango burst through some foliage into a large clearing with an old beat up well just in time to see a streak of red and white jump from the trees to land in front of her. Her chocolate eyes narrowed as she took in the demons' appearance before her, disliking him immediately. Especially the way he stood so arrogantly.

"Are you the demon InuYasha?!"

Her voice was hard when she called out to him; but when her only response from him was the narrowing of his blood chilling crimson-gold eyes, Sango clenched her fist tight as her anger grew.

"What have you done with the girl?! And the Sacred Jewel!?"

When the demon finally answered her, his voice was a gravelly sound. Almost as if he were growling and talking simultaneously.

"I don't see how that's any of your business Taijiya."

Sango gave her own growl, the best her human vocals could allow, when the demon had spat her title out like that. Anger getting the best of her and meaning to show the damn inu youkai she meant business, the muscles in her arm clenched as she launched her hiraikotsu towards his arrogant face. The tiny kitten on her shoulder just barely jumped to the ground in time before she committed to her attack.

When Miroku finally ran up on the scene it was to the sight of his wife hurling her weapon towards the powerful demon in the clearing. He watched as the demon dodged his wife's attack easily, only appearing to be annoyed at their presence. His violet eyes then widen as he felt just how powerful the demonic energy coming from that demon was. Feeling another energy present, masked by the demonic one, his eyes narrowed.

"Sango, he has the jewel!"

Miroku readied his staff when his statement caused those amber-red eyes to flick in his direction, prepared in case the demon attacked. While maintaining eye contact, he began to search the area with his spiritual senses. Unable to rid himself of the feeling that there was still something remaining unseen; he blocked out his wife's shouts as he focused.

"I knew it! Now where's the human girl!"

Quickly catching her weapon, Sango shouted her accusation as she immediately released her hiraikotsu once more with her aim more accurate this time. She didn't want to allow the demon any time to retaliate. However, as he once again evaded her attack only this time to smirk condescendingly at her, Sango's blood boiled.

"Was that aimed at me?"

His taunting words pissed her off and had her hand reaching underneath her armor grabbing for a trump card. Once her hand wrapped around the small ball she immediately threw it hard on the ground at the bastard's feet. She smiled triumphantly when he instantly began coughing and choking.

Effortlessly tying her mask securely to her face, Sango hurled her hiraikotsu as a distraction. As the choking demon made an attempt to jump away from her stink bomb, he was met with her hiraikotsu and had no choice but to dodge her giant boomerang bone. Hoping to have him thoroughly distracted, she unsheathed her katana and charged.

* * *

Miroku watched tensely as his wife upped her ante, preparing to charge the dog demon. She was an excellent Taijiya and undeniably more qualified than him in physical combat, however he could never rid himself of the worry he felt while observing her in battle. That was after all his wife.

Small movement on the ground to his right caught his attention, and his eyes darted over to only be surprised. Kirara wasn't with Sango? Brows scrunching together, Miroku watched the tiny kitten puzzled as she merely paced appearing to be in distress. He took note of how her red eyes seemed to be focused on something in the distance.

As he turned his head to find what held his companion's attention so strongly, Miroku jerked as he heard a foreign female voice scream in panic.

"InuYasha!"

His amethyst eyes widen as he caught sight of a young dark-haired woman dressed in what appeared to be a red oversized haori jacket. As if that wasn't strange enough, she was standing in a tree clinging to a large branch. Her frantic eyes were focused in on the fight below her, and caused Miroku's own gaze to follow.

* * *

InuYasha stood gripping the Taijiya's blade in his left hand, blood slowly oozing down from his palm. A low growl left him as he snarled. So, the bitch had tricks, did she? Not only was he unable to see clearly from his eyes watering and incapable of getting a proper breath from that damn stink bomb she'd let off; but it appeared her blade was sharp enough to cut even his skin.

"Fucking Taijiya bitch…"

"InuYasha!"

The sound of his mate's worried voice yelling his name caused his ears to twist in her direction. Not about to take his attention off the slayer bitch, he relied on his sensitive hearing to check on his priestess's well-being. Not able to appropriately assess her and feeling her distress through their bond, resulted in boiling his demon blood all the more.

Driven by his need to see his mate with his eyes, he let his anger come forward and stood to his full height. Fist clenching down harder on her blade; he took great satisfaction in the slayer's startled expression when he slung her, sword and all, away from him and to the ground. By the look in her eyes when she landed, he knew she'd spotted his supposed-to-be-hidden mate.

Turning just slightly to where he could see his dark-haired beauty, or at least a blurry version of her, InuYasha let out an internal sigh of relief at finding she was alright. His feeling of relief was short lived, however; as he then got pissed that she had come out of hiding and potentially placed herself in danger.

"I fucking told you to stay hidden!"

The impressive growl the Taijiya let out after his statement, had InuYasha's attention focusing back on her. He watched her carefully in case she tried any more of her tricks as she brought herself back up to stand angrily before him.

"How dare you try to keep her prisoner!"

Confused and still very pissed off, InuYasha raised a dark brow as he addressed the battle readied female. His voice sharp from anger.

"What?! I think you need to mind your own business, Taijiya. Especially in matters you don't understand."

Sango gripped the hilt of her sword so hard her knuckles turned white. Without much thought, her body immediately assumed a fighting stance with practiced ease. Resolve set, goal in sight, she yelled out to the damned youkai as she charged.

"I _**will**_ save her from you!"

InuYasha flexed his claws…

* * *

Kagome had done her best to stay hidden as InuYasha had requested; but when the strange woman had charged him and struck him with her blade, fear took over and she couldn't help calling out to him. Even knowing how strong he was and how fast he healed, she couldn't control her worry over him. She had actually been relieved for a moment when he had turned to yell at her, confirming that he wasn't too badly injured. The response from the demon slayer woman left her confused though.

When she had first appeared, Kagome had thought it had been for the jewel. Strangers showing up demanding for the jewel was nothing new, honestly in her short time here it had become a normal thing. Her interest had been piqued when the Taijiya had demanded to know where she was after first appearing; but Kagome had thought that perhaps the village had sent an assassin of some sort to find and kill the "dark priestess".

Yet, the more she heard and saw from the slayer, the more she didn't feel that was the case. When the man, whom she had guessed was a monk based off his attire, had confirmed that InuYasha did indeed have the jewel, the woman hadn't demanded that he hand it over. Instead the Taijiya seemed more concerned over Kagome's own well-being.

With the words the woman just spoke echoing in her ears, a lightbulb finally went off... That woman thought she was saving her from InuYasha! She had no sooner figured this out, that the woman then charged InuYasha again. Noticing his stance and the flex of his deadly claws, Kagome let out a gasp realizing he was done taking it easy on the Taijiya.

"No! InuYasha! Don't hurt her!"

Seeing the twitch of one of his canine ears, and feeling his slight bewilderment through their bond, Kagome knew he had heard her. Watching as he began to dodge attacks instead of dealing his own, she was glad he respected what she wanted enough to listen. Although her brow tensed in worry as the slayer's attacks became more and more aggressive.

Kagome wasn't sure if her words would even reach the other woman, let alone if she would halt her actions to actually listen to them.

' _I need to get down there and put a stop to this.'_

Mind made up, she started looking around for the best possible way to get down from the tree InuYasha had placed her in.

Luckily, he hadn't placed her too high up on its branches. After judging the distance to the ground, Kagome decided she should be alright if she were to hang from the branch she was standing on and drop down. Determination took over as she carefully began to lower her body down to lay flat on the branch. Making sure to have a firm hold, she was about to start lowering herself to hang from the branch when the voice of the monk calling out to her stopped her.

"Miss! Don't do that, you'll get hurt! Hold on I'll assist you!"

Kagome paused for a moment watching as the monk ran towards her. Her first thought had been to take him up on his nice offer. It would probably be easier to get down if she had some help. However, as a small gust of wind blew up her InuYasha-suikan-made-dress to graze her bare lady parts; her face exploded in mortification.

There was no way the monk wouldn't see all she had to offer standing right underneath her.

In fear for her modesty, horror then filled Kagome as she realized how close the monk had gotten to her. Rushing to try to drop down before he reached her completely, she had barely lowered herself any when her panic filled eyes met with his frantic lavender. He was almost under her! Without a second thought, she released the branch and began her decent. Keeping her legs tightly closed together and holding InuYasha's red suikan down, she squeezed her eyes shut and prayed for the best.

* * *

After having witnessed the small communication from the demon InuYasha and the mysterious young woman, Miroku was sure they were missing some key information. He knew immediately however, that his wife had taken the inu youkai's words completely differently than he. To him, what InuYasha had shouted to the young lass was out of concern and instantly reminded him of Hiroshi's perceptive on earlier events.

InuYasha looked like he was trying to protect that girl.

When the woman had called out telling the demon not to harm his wife, that had supported Miroku's theories. When InuYasha had complied with her wishes? That confirmed it. They needed to put a stop to this senseless fight and speak civilly to one another.

Miroku was about to make his way into battle field to reason with his furious wife when movement coming from the dark-haired lass caught his eye. Glancing her direction, he was promptly concerned for her safety seeing what she clearly planned to do. Deciding to first aid her instead, least she fall and break something, he ran towards her calling out for her to wait for him to assist.

He was relieved when she paused what she was doing and glanced over at him; thinking she was going to take his advice and wait for him. However, the sudden panicked look that took over her features left him baffled. Observing as she doubled her efforts to get down before he got there, Miroku hurried his own efforts to reach her.

Just as he was almost under her, their eyes met and the crazy woman let go of the branch! Thinking fast, he dropped his staff and dived quickly to try to catch her and hopefully soften her fall. Miroku wasn't sure how soft her landing turned out to be, however; when they both ended up in a jumbled mess of limbs.

Both him and the woman let out matching groans of pain. Slowly raising up on his knees, Miroku extended his hand out to the young maiden to help her up into a sitting position as well. As her smaller hand made contact with his, he pulled her up gently noticing how she was nursing the side of her head. He guessed at some point during their collision she must have hit it.

"Are you okay miss?"

Miroku was relieved and relaxed some when she smiled at him through gritted teeth. Answering him with a bit of sarcasm and playfulness in her voice.

"Yeah, never better."

The relaxed moment shared between them was gone as quickly as it came, unfortunately; when they both heard the sounds coming from the battle growing even more heated. Both quickly turned their heads towards the fight and Miroku groaned again. His wife had evidently reclaimed her hiraikotsu and was now using a tag team sort of method with it and her sword.

Purple and blue-grey eyes both watched with baited breathes as InuYasha dodged the hiraikotsu only for Sango to immediately attack with her sword after. Miroku was impressed as the inu youkai punched his wife's sword away by the flat of it. He couldn't help but to think that those two would make great sparing partners. Though, the curses they threw at one another brought him back down to reality.

"Bastard!"

"Bitch!"

Before Miroku had a chance to develop a plan to stop the two warriors, the young lass next to him had jumped up preparing to take off into the thick of it. Fearing for her safety if she were to succeed in getting in between two hot heads in combat, he instantaneously jumped forward after her.

Reaching out with his right hand to try to grab hold of her, all he got was a handful of red material. When the material gave and he saw her bare skin start to be revealed, Miroku tried to correct himself and reached out with his left hand to hopefully grab onto something more solid. His hand landed on the juncture of her shoulder and neck.

As soon as his hand made contact with the bare skin on her left shoulder, all hell broke loose. In a spilt second, the young girl had dropped to her knees crying out and clutching to the spot he had touched as if in pain. He had no time to ponder on what had happened though, as he just as abruptly found himself suspended in the air by his throat with five sharp claws prickling at the skin on his neck. An enraged face with dark purple jagged marks on its cheeks, and menacing scarlet-cobalt eyes glared hatefully up at him. As a viscously cold voice spoke, causing the deadly snarl directed at him to flash elongated fangs; chills shot down Miroku's spine.

" _ **Don't you fucking touch her."**_


	10. Chapter 10

At long last I present to you CHAPTER10! I am deeply sorry to my readers for my VERY long absence. I won't bore you all with the details, its just this past year was filled with family deaths and cancer scares. I'm glad to say my mother is now cancer free! But due to the stress of this past year my creativeness left me for a while. However, I am back with bells on! I want to add that I have went back on ALL of my previous chapters and updated them. Some were minor things, like typos and details or lil plot holes, but mainly I felt my writing style had matured some especially since the very early chapters so I went back to modify those to read better. Again, a HUGE thank you to those of you who left me reviews. Your kind words helped keep me passionate for this story over my long absence. I hope you all enjoy this chapter 😉

* * *

Demon Nature

Chapter Ten

Kaede's breath caught when she finally emerged in the clearing where a violent dispute was already in progress. Yet it wasn't the sight of the warring parties that froze her to her spot. No, it was the combination of the sight of white hair, dog ears, and baggy red hakama; and the odd feeling of her sisters' presence. As a wave of conflicting emotions rushed her all at once, her one good eye widened taking in the spectacle.

Before her was the man who had attacked her village. Stolen the Sacred Jewel. Killed her sister. The tales of his evil deeds had only grown more heinous with each generation that passed the stories down. To the point where she almost believed them.

The majority of her life he had been pinned to that tree, and she had come to believe her once fond memories of him had been the work of a child's imagination. Made up fabrications created to help her cope with the loss of not only her sister, but him as well. For in one day, they both had been tragically and violently taken from her; and she didn't even have the closure of knowing why.

All she had were the stories. The warnings and dark tales told to prevent the children from venturing into InuYasha's Forest. Tales told to make her hate him. Because she had to hate him, right? If what they said were true, she had no choice but to hate him.

Yet, seeing him here now, freed from her sisters' spell; moving, breathing, _alive_ once more… Transported her through time; back into her youth. She didn't stare at him with the eyes of a hardened old woman, but with the innocence and admiration her former self had once possessed. Gone were the horror stories; the rumors, the curse of his name. All she saw before her was her friend… the man who had teased her, picked on her, watched over her, saved her… The man whom she had prayed to the Kami would one day truly become her big brother…

Her onii-san was alive. How could she hate him when all she felt was relief?

Tearing her eye away from InuYasha, Kaede turned her attention to the young lass sitting on the ground next to the monk. Taking her appearance in, Kaede couldn't believe how much she resembled the dead Kikyo. At first glance her mind had wanted to believe that it was her deceased sister. The woman's exterior looks along with her strong unique spiritual powers were so similar to that of Kikyos' it was no wonder Kaede almost thought she was staring at a specter.

Upon closer inspection, however, Kaede could see and feel the differences in this lass that made it clear she was not Kikyo. Physical features aside it was the spiritual ones that amazed Kaede. This woman had Kikyos' power, yet they were so much stronger than Kikyos' had been. With this fact accompanied with the information the village men had given her about the Sacred Jewel being torn out of the girls' body, Kaede knew it could only mean one thing…

The Taijiya's heated voice quickly followed by InuYasha's intense one snapped Kaede out of the past and her wonderings, slamming her back into the here and now.

"Bastard!"

"Bitch!"

Kaede narrowed her good eye as she reached into her breast pocket retrieving what she hoped would resolve all this violence as peacefully as possible. Her years of experience and miko training coming back to her, telling her she had to take action now. With tempers as high as they were, she knew there wasn't much time left before someone got seriously hurt.

Closing her eye and chanting a quick incantation, awakening her sisters' dormant magic; Kaede's brows scrunched in concentration and concern. Screams of pain from the mysterious girl reached her ears, soon followed by a demonic growl from the man she knew very well. Tuning out the world, she concentrated and did not open her eye until she felt her sisters' magic spring to life.

The sight of the young monk being thrust into the air by his throat was the first thing her poor vision took in; causing her old eye to widened once more. As she observed InuYasha's appearance, his face having changed drastically so, a sense of trepidation found her. Kaede prayed she hadn't acted too late as his deadly snarl and cold voice reached her ears; the beads of subjection taking off to find their intended target.

* * *

Kagome was desperately trying to come to her senses. It had all happened so fast; yet, time seemed to have slowed down for her. From the moment the priest grabbed her mark she knew everything had accelerated into an even more dangerous situation. She knew she needed to take action but her mind and body were in two different places and she was having a difficult time getting her body to listen to what her mind was demanding of it.

The pain she had felt was like a hot piercing burn that had took her down to her knees. It had started at InuYasha's mark on the juncture of her neck and shoulder and shot straight to her heart. Thankfully, the instant the holy man's touch had been removed the pain had stopped; however, now she was left with the sickening nausea that resulted from the pain.

Moving her hand from clutching at her mark to cupping her mouth, Kagome vaguely made out the sound of InuYasha's venomous words while she fought the urge to evacuate her stomach. She supposed it wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't been so caught off guard by it. Though, in the back of her mind she could hear InuYasha's warning voice.

" _If the mark is touched by anyone besides the mated pair, it could have very negative reactions."_

Boy did it ever… It was like her entire body was physically rejecting the other man's touch.

Kagome forced herself to take deep breathes trying to calm herself; but the more control she gained over herself the more InuYasha's emotions invaded her. Her stormy-blues widen at the brutal fury she felt pouring out of him. Lifting her head and turning toward him, she gasped seeing the poor monk being suspended effortlessly. Five sharp talons piercing the flesh at his neck, locking him in a death grip.

InuYasha was going to kill him. No, InuYasha _is_ killing him she realized as the priest's already weak attempts at removing the hand squeezing the life out of him started to cease. His arms becoming too heavy for his oxygen deprived body to continue to even hold up, let alone struggle against his unmoving demonic assailant.

Swallowing rapidly in an attempt to beat down her gag reflex and not empty her gut, Kagome had barely managed to croak out InuYasha's name when tiny spherical objects began to appear out of no where around his neck. Astonished and bewildered at the sudden new development, she could only watch as the… purple beads?... created a necklace around him.

Kagome's brain was still trying to comprehend all that was happening, when she heard two separate female voices simultaneously cry out.

"Speak the word child!"

"You fucking bastard!"

The first voice was aged and had a calm sense of urgency about it. Like the speaker knew all hell was breaking loose but refusing to cave under the pressure of panic. It didn't outright command respect; automatically you just knew this was someone whom you showed the courtesy to and Kagome found herself wanting to follow the instruction given.

Yet, however clear and strong the first voice was the second was on the verge of insanity. Kagome instantly recognized the voice of the female warrior and had become very aware by now the sound of Taijiya's anger. This was not anger though. This was the sound of a desperate woman facing her worse fears. The sheer raw emotion of it had Kagome ignoring the other woman and turning her head to face the slayer.

Dread sank deep in her already sickened stomach; watching in slow motion as the Taijiya searched madly for her fallen sword from the spot InuYasha had knocked her to. The brunet's intentions were clear as day; she was going to kill InuYasha or die trying.

Kagome knew the later of the two was far more likely, especially in his current state. Perhaps it was foolish of her placing so much confidence in his abilities, but she knew no one was a match for his strength. He had only held back for her sake, but now…?

Now she needed to take action. She needed to do something to stop all this madness. But what? What could she possibly do?

"Quickly child, speak the word!"

The calm aged voice broke into her panicked mind once more, instructing her in something important she was certain. However, Kagome's clouded mind only muddled further; not understanding the importance of a word in this situation. Or what word it was exactly she was supposed to speak.

"What word!?"

Her voice had a hint of confusion to it but was overwhelmingly pleading as she saw the slayer spot her weapon. Gods they were out of time. She was out of time.

"Only your word can contain his spirit, speak it now before there is further bloodshed!"

Kagome wasn't sure how she knew she could trust the elderly voice. She supposed the wisdom held in it reminded her of a teacher addressing their student; encouraging and assisting you in the right direction. Subconsciously, her mind made the decision for her.

As she helplessly watched the Taijiya charge with her sword leading the attack, she turned back around to InuYasha. InuYasha was killing the monk. The slayer was going to try to kill InuYasha. All for a misunderstanding that could be resolved if they all would just sit down and talk?!

Scared and angry, Kagome was over everything being out of her control. Eyes locking onto two adorable white triangles located at the top of InuYasha's head, the word magically came to her in a breath that filled her lungs in a rush.

" ** _Sit_**!"

As her voice echoed throughout the clearing all parties halted for a moment, astonished, as the magic of the beads took effect. One second InuYasha was standing, with the almost lifeless monk dangling from his death grip. The next, his body was forcibly jerked down to the ground so violently it left a small crater around him. The priest, having fallen from InuYasha's clutches during the process, lay near gasping for breath.

Seeing the holy man suck air into his lungs, gave Kagome little relief as her own lungs seized up on her. Her heart ached feeling as though she had betrayed InuYasha and she waited eagerly trying to spot movement from him. What had she done to him?! Why wasn't he moving?

A feminine battle cry had her jerking her focus back towards the Taijiya. Having momentarily forgotten the threat, being too stunned by whatever the hell it was she had done to InuYasha, Kagome's brain scrambled to make sense of the insanity. Obviously, the slayer's training allowed her to process the abrupt change of events quicker than normal, and she was once again focused on her personal vendetta. Her mark now an easier target, she was already closing in…

"I'll kill you!"

Panic fueled Kagome, giving her strength to move her weighted body at a speed she didn't think she could ever hope to achieve again. All she knew was she had to beat that woman to InuYasha. She had to reach him first so she could protect him!

Through her peripheral sight she saw as the brunet warrior raised her sword higher with each running step closer she got to InuYasha. Squeezing her steel-greys tight, Kagome dove forward letting out a scream in hopes of stopping the Taijiya… and prayed that for once she could repay her savoir and save him.

* * *

Sango was hardly ever caught off guard in battle. She never found herself in a situation that she couldn't take control of or think of a plan of attack. Years and years of training had prepared her and made her into the perfect calculating exterminator. It was something she prided herself in; her ability to remain calm under pressure. She wore her pride as a slayer both figuratively and literally as the Taijiya armor protecting her.

Apparently, her armor had a crack in it… A very lethal one that could lead to her own demise.

For as soon as she saw her husband being lifted into the air like a ragdoll, his face masked with pain as demonic claws punctured his throat, she froze. Sango couldn't control her own body as she watched, horrified, at what was being done to Miroku. It never had truly occurred to her that they might one day run into a demon they couldn't handle.

She briefly held on to the hope that he would still get himself out of the situation with a spiritual ward or some trick up his sleeve. But as she saw the fight leave him she knew everything had happened too fast, he just had not had the time to defend himself… it was up to her. If she didn't get her ass in gear she was going to lose her idiot husband and she would be damned if someone else killed her idiot!

"You fucking bastard!"

Rage and terror moved her as she frantically started searching for her sword. She had dropped it when that beast had unexpectedly knocked her for a loop, but she knew it couldn't be far. Vaguely the voices of the old priestess and the young girl registered in her mind, although Sango couldn't comprehend the words in her state.

She was filled with triumph when her brown eyes finally located her weapon. Racing for it she jerked her sword up from the ground and charged toward the vile youkai. She had covered maybe half the distance to her target when the young woman they were here to rescue let out demanding piercing shout.

Her pursuit was paused and her footing faltered, her fiery auburn orbs watching in astonishment as an invisible force dragged the demon InuYasha down to the ground. As the youkai's body forcefully hit the dirt Sango's eyes found Miroku and frantically assessed his condition.

Relief flooded her being at the sight of him drawing breathe into his lungs. Tears rapidly sprang into her chocolate eyes, burning and blurring her vision. All she wanted to do was run to her husband. Make sure her sight wasn't lying to her, care for his wounds…

Eyes having landed on Miroku's throat, Sango's gaze turned heated once more as she fixed her stare on the arrogant demon who had tried to kill her husband. The arrogant demon who now lay motionless on his stomach… his back exposed. Her Taijiya instincts came roaring back to life, honing her focus on one goal.

Letting loose a battle cry, Sango propelled her body forward. Eyes narrowed, focusing on her target, she pushed herself to cross the remaining distance between her and her kill. She would be damned if she missed this opportunity to rid the world of vile vermin such as that thing.

Readying her blade, Sango's aim was locked on where his heart would be. Victory was so close she could almost taste it. With one thrust of her sword, she would save an innocent girl, recover the jewel, and avenge her husband for what had been done to him.

However, she was not expecting the young woman to throw herself on top of the unconscious demonic man. No sooner had the woman's scream reached her ears, then the sight of her red clad form filled Sango's line of vision.

" _No_!"

Unable to stop her forward momentum, Sango cursed as she was forced to alter her aim. Her sword punctured the youkai's left shoulder, just above the woman's head full of black hair. Stormy eyes glared heatedly up at Sango, and all she could do was stare back in bewilderment.

"Don't hurt him!"

As the young woman's shaky words registered in Sango's brain, she found herself at a loss for her own. Why would this woman protect her kidnapper? Just looking at the poor thing you could tell she had been through some shit; hell there was still a fading bruise on her face! Yet, she risked her life to protect the man, no, to protect the demon who had done all this to her?

"Bu… but why…"

Sango's voice trailed off as she heard Miroku let out a groan from his place on the ground. Quickly her eyes left the strong burning gaze of the young girl and found his purple clad form. Kirara was already by his side, nuzzling the side of his face and it briefly occurred to her that the tiny kitten had yet to assist her in battle which was very unusual for her small companion.

Seeing as Miroku tried to bring a shaky hand up to his still bleeding throat, all thought left Sango as she couldn't help but to go immediately to his side. Leaving her sword embedded into the youkai's shoulder for good measure, she rushed over to access the damage done to her husband. Her eyes still flickering intermediately over to her opponent and the young girl, keeping tabs on their movements.

* * *

Kagome was relieved when the slayer left to check on the monk. She really didn't want to have to fight the woman, but she would have done so if it meant protecting InuYasha. Her relief was short lived however, when she raised her head to see that the slayer had left her sword right where it was… Still piercing through InuYasha's shoulder.

Now she knew InuYasha could take a lot of damage, he had proven that to her many times in the short amount of time they'd known one another. And she knew intimately how his body was built different than hers. Rationally, she knew that this was probably just a minor injury that would be gone by tomorrow.

But Kagome was anything but rational at the moment.

Without thinking she quickly wrapped both hands around the blade and jerked it up, desperate to get the weapon out of his body. Having so much adrenaline pumping through her, she didn't even register as the blade cut into both her palms.

As soon as the sword was out she tossed it to the side with clang. Immediately leaning her face down to find InuYasha's dirt covered one, she gently started shaking him and calling out to him. Desperately searching for signs of life and that he was ok, she was relieved to notice he was in fact still breathing.

That was good, that meant she hadn't killed him with whatever magic the old lady had tricked her into performing on him. Still she was worried that he hadn't responded yet. What if he was more seriously injured than what he appeared to be? What if he had internal damage she couldn't see!?

"InuYasha!"

Fear was thick in her voice as she tried and tried to get a response out of her hanyou.

"InuYasha, speak to me!"

Nothing.

"InuYasha you better speak to me or I swear I'll never forgive you!"

Kagome knew the logic of that declaration was completely unfair, because how could you possibly hold it against someone for not speaking to you if they physically couldn't? It was illogical, and while she was trying her best to be calm that was an extremely hard thing to do when you thought you had just seriously damaged the man you love.

Her breathe caught in her throat though when she finally spotted movement from him. She watched worryingly as his nose gave a twitch before grimacing his face, his thick black brows drawing together as if he had a killer headache. Finally, he let out a groan and opened his now again crimson-honey eyes.

Relief flooded her and Kagome couldn't help the pitch of her voice as her excitement came bursting out.

"InuYasha! Are you ok?!"

As he went to push himself up, she instantly eased back off of him to help him however she could. One small dainty hand placed at his back, the other on his chest to help bring him up slowly as he transitioned into a sitting position. Half way through the maneuver Kagome heard the small growl he let out right before his angry eyes locked onto her worried ones.

"Fucking hell woman! You knocked me out and got me stabbed, what do you think?!"

Kagome was stunned for all of a second. Her emotions changing rapidly from the initial relief at hearing him finally speak, to anger after his words registered. Not to mention InuYasha's own incensed emotions flooding into her only added fuel to the fire. In no time she was launching back at him.

"Well excuse me for trying to help!"

InuYasha's head was killing him, but he guessed that shouldn't be a surprise since getting knocked unconscious will do that to you. Although he'd be damned if he admitted that he was in any pain out loud. When he had first come to it hadn't been as bad. His mates worried voice growing louder and louder didn't help it none. Trying to get vertical didn't help it either. And the two of them arguing certainly wasn't helping it.

He knew snapping at her wasn't right, but the worse his head got the more irritated he got. His demon blood was already boiling because another male had had the audacity to touch his mate, and on his mark no less! It was already demanding that he reestablish his mark, his canines throbbed and his entire body hummed with the persistent need.

Plus, he had an added dose of fear in the mix since what brought him around was the smell of Kagome's blood. And thanks to that slayer bitch his vision was unclear and he couldn't properly assess the extent of his wench's injuries. He was also keenly aware that both the male and Taijiya were still in close proximity. Although they didn't appear to be a threat at the moment. Still, all of that combined only caused him to be even more pissed off.

It was misplaced he knew, but he couldn't help his foul mood.

" _Help_?! If that's your idea of helping then don't do me any favors!"

By now he was sitting up facing off with his mate. Although at the moment all he could see was a hazy version of her, his demon nonetheless commanded he check her for any damage. Blinking a few times to help clear his still blurry vision, thanks again to that bitch Taijiya, he tried to focus on her face. His irritation at her instantly eased up some when he was finally able to catch a glimpse of her watery blue-greys.

"What else was I suppose to do?! Let you kill a monk? He's a _monk_ InuYasha! I think the Kami would frown on that!"

Although outwardly she appeared annoyed and pissed at him, after taking a moment to focus on their bond, he knew she was just worried. Well worried and slightly pissed off because he had been a little snippy with her… But he was worried about her too damnit!

"No, you were _suppose_ to stay hidden! To avoid shit like that!"

InuYasha watched as Kagome's dainty brows scrunched together as she gently lifted his now blood-stained kosode to look at his shoulder, already fretting over his wounds. Her voice may have portrayed her annoyance at him, but her actions and her eyes told the truth of her concern. Internally he had to chuckle, because while they both were busy laying into one another verbally they were also both giving the other the once over physically. Acting just like a mated pair.

"And let you and that woman keep going at each other?!"

Though his vision was still slightly fuzzy, his eyes began scanning her frantically for injury as he only half listened to his wench as she kept on yelling back. Unable to see anything that would cause her to be bleeding, InuYasha took a few discrete sniffs to locate the source that he _knew_ was there. His nose didn't lie.

"I'm trying to protect you and this is the thanks I get?!"

While keeping up their banter, InuYasha was finally able to pinpoint the source of where she was bleeding. Halting Kagome's fussing over him by grabbing both her wrists, he ignored her slight protest bringing both of her hands up for a closer inspection. Thanks to his demonic blood, and possibly a little help from the sacred jewel still hidden on his person, his eyes were healing quickly and he could make out that the cuts along her palms weren't too serious.

"Stupid girl, look what you did to your hands."

Immediately his wench puffed up ready to yell at him some more, obviously livid with him for calling her stupid. Hiding his smirk, InuYasha swiftly silenced her by bringing her right hand to his mouth and taking a long slow lick over the nasty cut she had acquired. His mouth instantly filled with his healing salvia as soon as his tongue made contact with her blood.

His smirk disappeared though when Kagome let out a small hiss. Halting his actions briefly, he sought out her eyes to make sure she was alright before continuing. Vision now thankfully much clearer, InuYasha didn't like the grimace he saw on her face; but he was relieved when she offered him a wary smile.

Obviously, she wasn't in any real pain, but that didn't mean it didn't smart. Continuing with his task he gave her palm several long licks. Unable to stop himself from lingering, since each time his tongue came into contact with her blood his demon screamed at him.

It was angry she was hurt in the first place. Excited to be healing her. Roaring for him to reinstate his mark. And gods did he want to fuck her.

For Kami's sake this newly mated bond was gonna kill him, because now was not the time for any of that. Shit he shouldn't even be taking his sweet ass time healing her because his enemies were still close by. Like sitting right next to them close!

As he switched from Kagome's right palm to her left, InuYasha's scarlet-gold eyes flicked over to where the Taijiya was sitting clearly baffled. However, the moment he looked over she gathered herself and instantly her intense gaze locked onto his, and if looks could kill he'd be a goner for sure. Then again so would she.

Eyes narrowing, he took her in completely, noticing how she now had the bastard-who-had-touched-his-mate's head in her lap. And as harsh and unkind as her stare was towards him, how she handled the monk was the complete opposite. Her hand gently glided through his hair, brushing the short black strands carefully with her fingers. While the other held a cloth to his bloody throat.

Finished with healing his mate's wounds, InuYasha stubbornly held the judging gaze of the slayer as he then proceeded to bring each of Kagome's hands back to his lips to place a gentle kiss on her palms. Out of his peripheral vision he saw his wench's pretty blush dust her checks and the sweet smile that took over her face.

He knew he'd feel guilty for ruining the moment later, but he couldn't stop the words that forced their way out. That Taijiya just really pissed him off…

"What the fuck are you starin' at bitch."

Sango felt an instant rage sink into her at the youkai's words. She had calmed down some while she had been watching his moves closely. Observing as him and the young woman argued, ready to jump to her defense if needed. Yet the woman didn't show an ounce of fear toward the demon. Their verbal banter seeming almost like a concerned married couple… and then the way the beast had handled her so carefully…

Then the vile thing had to go and spout shit like that to her. Instantly she was amped up to fight, her warrior nature front and center.

"Why you loathsome excuse of a demon, I'll kick your-!"

"That would be enough of that now I think."

Sango snapped her mouth close before finishing her sentence as the old priestess cut her off with a stern voice. Watching as Lady Kaede slowly walked passed her and Miroku continuing closer towards the demon InuYasha, she was about to shout out a warning to the priestess when suddenly her wrist was engulfed in a large warm hand.

Chocolate eyes widened as she quickly glanced down to see Miroku's amethyst stare gazing up at her. He gave her a weak smile through his grimace, obviously still in some pain, and gently shook his head. Silently asking her to remain quiet and observe.

Kaede stopped just a few short feet from InuYasha and the young lass. Arms casually folded behind her back as she took in the pair from their place on the ground. Instantly she knew there had been a drastic misunderstanding somewhere as her old eye took in the protective gestures InuYasha showed toward the girl. Tucking the lass more to his side, putting himself closer to herself and others.

That and with how the girl acted toward InuYasha spoke volumes. Not only did the young thing show zero fear for the half demon, and he looked plenty fearsome, but she worried over him as well. Kaede herself had felt a fleeting ping of fear at seeing his features. She had never seen him in such a manner, and briefly she had had to wonder if the horror stories of her youth had been true about him.

Yet with the way that girl trusted him, Kaede found herself trusting in him again as well. Maybe it was foolish, maybe her own past feelings for the hanyou was clouding her judgement, but she was going to have faith in him once again. Finally, after 50 years of waiting, she was able to speak to her childhood hero once more.

"Ye have changed InuYasha."

InuYasha narrowed his eyes at the old crone who was now addressing him, wondering not for the first time how so many people whom he didn't know seemed to know him. He could tell from her spiritual energy that she was a priestess, but still she wasn't any priestess he knew.

"And who the fuck are you, ya old bat?"

Meaning to insult her and make her back off, InuYasha was a little shocked when instead the crazy old woman smiled at him. Seeming truly amused at his response. Hell was she chuckling at him?!

"Ah, but ye still be the same InuYasha I once knew. Foul mouthed and hot headed."

Growling low, InuYasha was starting to get real pissed off at the ancient looking miko. He wasn't sure what game she was playing at, but he was in no mood to be screwed with. He needed to get Kagome away from all this so he could verify she was alright and get his demon half to calm the fuck down.

"Look I don't know what y'er trying to pull, but I'm getting sick of some dried up old hag talkin' like she knows me!"

Kaede didn't try to hold back her chuckle this time at his flustered words.

"Ye truly do not recognize me then? It is understandable I suppose; 50 years have past and I have grown old… I am younger sister to Kikyo, Kaede."

Watching as different emotions passed over his face before he quickly masked them, Kaede stood patiently and awaited InuYasha's response. She noticed the slightest twitch of his nose before a small smile ghosted his face. As he finally addressed her again she couldn't help but smile back at him.

"So, you're the brat huh?"

"Aye, InuYasha… and I think we need to sit down and talk. There has been enough pointless fighting for today."

InuYasha sat there for a moment overwhelmed with all the emotions he was experiencing. Happiness, sadness, fucking pissed off. His demon was scratching at the surface, its one and only priority being his mate. Feeling Kagome's confusion through their bond wasn't helping any in his emotional cocktail either.

He knew what Kaede said was true, they all needed to talk, but he was still dangerously on edge. Knowing he needed to be of sounder mind and hoping to relieve the pressure from his demon demanding he remark his mate somewhat, InuYasha turned slightly to Kagome offering her a smile before reaching into his kosode to retrieve the hidden jewel. Placing the tainted gem firmly in her hands, he let out a sigh before turning back toward Kaede and speaking again.

"Yeah… I think we do."

Eyes now completely golden, InuYasha heard the small gasp and could feel the heavy stare both coming from the Taijiya but paid her no mind as he held Kaede's gaze. Although he didn't miss the slight smile the old priestess donned at seeing his change.

"Let us start at the beginning, shall we?"

InuYasha waited for the old priestess to sit down and then per her request started from the beginning, back to the day he had been sealed to the Tree of Ages and the events that had lead up to his imprisonment. Unsure what Kaede had been told, or what she already knew of from that day he still wanted to give her his side of things. He watched her closely trying to read her, because while he didn't want to admit it he really didn't want her to hate him.

Although she seemed to be deep in thought as though something were troubling her, when she simply just nodded and seemed content to continue listening, he continued explaining. Now telling of the events on the day he was awakened and how he and Kagome met and how the Sacred Jewel came to be in his possession. He let out a small growl remembering how the village men had treated his mate on that day, grasping her hand to offer support for her and himself, he couldn't stop the venom in his words.

"Several of the village men were nasty towards her Kaede. The one in particular, who actually harmed her and left her for dead, I already dealt with."

Lost in thought over InuYasha's account on what had happened the day he had been sealed to the Sacred Tree and her sister had tragically died, Kaede couldn't shake the ominous feeling that settled deep in her bones. He claimed that he had left her sister behind to deal with bandit in the burning cave, caused by Kikyo's own attacks against him. Yet, Kikyo had had no trace of soot, smoke, or burns of any kind. No, her sister had been attacked by a youkai; with claw marks slashing deep into her chest…

Either InuYasha was lying, or there was something more menacing remaining unseen. A memory flashed in her mind's eye of the bandit that took up residence in that cave. Kaede grimaced recalling how the man had put her at great unease as a child, remembering with perfect clarity his obsession with both the jewel and her sister. There had been something sinister in his eyes that had triggered her suspicions of him then, and now had her somehow discerning that he was behind the scenes pulling strings.

Deciding that she needed to give the matter more thought before speaking to InuYasha about it further, and also not wishing to discuss the subject in mixed company, she kept her concerns to herself for now. Focusing her attentions back on InuYasha as he continued his tale, she wasn't surprised to learn of the abuse Katashi had demonstrated upon the young lass.

Having already come to that conclusion from Hiroshi's explanation of that night, Kaede still turned to the young girl wanting absolute confirmation. She knew the villagers wouldn't take the word of a demon, half even though he may be. Two human witnesses and their accounts on the other hand would be accepted with much less resistance. Especially since Kaede herself could attest that the lass was indeed not a dark priestess. While most of the villagers were still up in arms over the ordeal, thinking their comrade had been slayed in cold blood, she knew that once they had heard the truth they would all reassess what exactly had been seen and done that night.

"Is this true lass?"

It took Kagome a moment to realize the elderly woman was speaking to her now. Her focus was being pulled in many directions, but what held her attention the most was the odd sensation she kept receiving from InuYasha through their bond every since he came to. It was like penetrating waves of energy, as if he were excited and just a bit scared all at once. She knew he wasn't afraid of anyone here, he wouldn't have given the jewel to her otherwise, and once he had handed the jewel to her the feeling had muffled down some.

Muffled or not Kagome was still getting hit with waves, the size and intensity had just went down some. Each time a wave would come rolling over her, her body would feel strangely empty and InuYasha's mark on her seemed to heat up and tingle. She almost reached up to touch it once before remembering what kind of result that had.

She had been staring at InuYasha trying to figure out the strange sensation when Kaede had addressed her. Now trying to ignore the odd feeling and frantically trying to form a coherent thought she wasn't sure at first how much information to give. She still felt slightly distrusting of the old woman for having tricked her into hurting InuYasha - which she still wanted to know what the heck happened there! - but the small squeeze he gave her hand helped calm and reassure her. Ultimately, she decided it was probably best to be as honest as possible, especially if it helped clear up this whole mess.

"Yes… when I first got here three men from the village found me and two of them were pretty terrible. I was hit, tossed around and dragged through the forest. The third man seemed kind though, he actually let me go when the centipede monster attacked. I'm pretty sure the man InuYasha kil… dealt with… was the same one who shot me with an arrow and did everything else to me."

The clearing had grown quite as Kagome gave a brief description of what had happened to her, well except for the low growl InuYasha gave when she got to the part of that horrid man shooting her with an arrow. All ears were eager to hear her side of things, particularly those of a certain slayer. Once it was clear Kagome had finished, the next voice to fill the area was the Taijiya's inquisitive one.

"So… you're saying this youkai… I mean, InuYasha… didn't kidnap you and steal the jewel?"

At the Taijiya's words a small amount of anger filled Kagome. She understood the woman had been given false information and was only there to save and protect her, but enough was enough. She was tired of InuYasha being made out to be this horrible monster that stole her away to be his captive! Hard eyes locked onto the slayers as Kagome made every misunderstanding very crystal clear.

"No! InuYasha saved me! He _protected_ me from that centipede monster. He _protected_ me from that awful man. Then, he _healed_ me after what that nasty demon bug and awful man had done. He did _not_ kidnap or hurt me. He has been the one keeping me safe and providing for me ever since I got here!"

Sango's chocolate eyes had gotten wider with each declaration strongly given from the young woman. It was clear now that there had indeed been a mistake made, at least where it concerned the girl's safety. Suddenly ashamed of herself for her hasty actions, she diverted her eyes from the intense stare coming from the woman. Now looking down into the pained lavender gaze of her husband, she felt even more guilt. If she hadn't rushed into battle like she had then Miroku wouldn't be laying here injured.

Still though he offered her a smile and as always it was charming and coaxed a small one from her as well. Without saying a word Miroku could find a way to give her guidance and ease her worries. Knowing what she needed to do, whether if at this point it was worth anything or not, Sango cleared her now thick throat to speak.

"I'm sorry."

Glancing up to face the glare of the rightfully angered woman, Sango was amazed at the breathtaking smile she was now receiving from her instead. All traces of her anger were gone, replaced by nothing but kindness and forgiveness and it showed even in her voice.

"It's ok. We forgive you."

"Keh!"

InuYasha shattered the moment with a noise that obviously said he had other opinions on the whole "forgiving" thing, causing Sango to flick her now narrowed eyes at him. It was evident that she still had her suspicions of him and wasn't quite ready to let him off the hook that quickly.

"And what about the Sacred Jewel? From what I heard that's what got you sealed away for 50 years. How do we know you aren't just doing whatever it takes to keep it for its power?"

InuYasha met the Taijiya's glare head on, giving as good as he got. Being more of sound mind in his current state, he wasn't as inclined to start brawling again. He realized the slayer had a right to be suspicious of him and taking a note from his mates' play book, decided it was best to be honest here.

"It's true I did seek out the jewel 50years ago for its power. I wanted to become stronger. And I did eventually steal it. But I only done that in retaliation from being betrayed. Kikyo hurt me, I wanted to hurt her. And no before you even ask I did not physically hurt her! I'm not a monster."

He stopped here to wait for the Taijiya to shut her mouth. Having seen where her thoughts had immediately gone, he nipped that in the bud before she could even voice it. Once she clamped her mouth shut he continued.

"When I first woke up from that damn spell I was still pissed. Yeah 50years may have past for everybody else but for me it was like wakin' up the next morning. So yeah, I still wanted the jewel and I took it from that bitch Mistress Centipede. At no point though did I ever intend to harm Kagome. What she told you is true, I did save her and anybody that wants to mess with her goes through me!"

InuYasha stopped to give a menacing look not only to Miroku and Sango but Kaede as well. Making sure his point was made before continuing somewhat solemnly.

"I still want to become stronger, but not for the same selfish reasons now. I want to be better at protecting her. I thought the jewel would help me with that. These past couple weeks however have showed me how dark that thing actually is. It's dangerous to use for too long. So, no, I'm not just doing whatever it takes to keep that damn thing."

After InuYasha was finished Sango was silent for a moment letting everything sink in. She looked him over carefully, watching his body language towards the girl called Kagome. Deciding he truly meant no harm towards her, she had one last question.

"So why do you keep it with you if you know how dangerous it is?"

Sango watched curiously as InuYasha and Kaede made eye contact and lingered as if they both were silently communicating over a serious matter. When their features both hardened, she could tell that the conclusion of their silent conversation was grim. Even Miroku's expression took on a solemn look, and Sango could tell it wasn't from any lingering pain. Finally InuYasha let out a long-aspirated sigh before answering her.

"Because Kagome's the only one with spiritual powers strong enough to constantly purify the damn thing."


End file.
